A 34-year-old man suspected of breaking into a Westminster home was caught in part because of a 911 call made by a 9-year-old girl.
She called from a family cellphone just before 6 a.m. Friday, April 4, to report someone was breaking into their home near Magnolia Street and Bolsa Avenue.
The girl, who was upstairs, gave a running account to a dispatcher as the suspect smashed a window and got into the home, police said.
The girl’s father, who was in the kitchen, doused the intruder with pepper spray and dragged him out of the home, police said.
The burglar ran off, jumped a fence and hid in a neighbor’s yard until officers arrived within three minutes, established a perimeter and found the suspect, police said.
Police booked him on suspicion of residential burglary and trespassing.
Police released a copy of the 911 call in which the girl coolly detailed what was happening. Here is a condensed version:
“Someone is in my house,” she said.
“How are they trying to get in?” the dispatcher asked.
“They broke the window,” the girl responded.
“How many are trying to get in?” the dispatcher asked.
“One.”
“Where is your family?”
“My family is in my house.”
At one point the girl said, “Please help me.”
Later, as other family members went upstairs, the girl asked them, “Are you done? I called the police.”
As the girl’s sister called dispatchers, the girl’s call was ended and the dispatcher told her, “Good job, OK?”
Westminster police released the audio, they said, hoping “parents teach their children to use 911 in emergencies and to show the stellar example WPD Dispatch Supervisor Kristen Kannard did while interacting with the child and the child answering questions under scary circumstances.”
Said Westminster Police Chief Darin Lenyi: “Based on her performance, I invite the 9-year-old, when she grows up, to become a member of the WPD as either a police officer or dispatcher.”