Girl home alone helps nab burglary suspects

HIALEAH, Fla. (AP) — Police say two would-be burglars were thwarted by a child when they broke into what they thought was an unoccupied home on President’s Day.

Authorities say a 12-year-old girl was home alone Monday when she heard someone knock on the front door about 1 p.m. The sixth-grader hid in the closet and called 911 on her cell phone.

She stayed on the phone with the dispatcher, who sent police to the home.

The men tried to leave through the back of the house, but gates kept them on the property. By the time they opened the front door, they were met by more than a dozen officers, a SWAT team and K-9 unit.

Two men — 25-year-old Michel Torres and 35-year-old Pedro Estrada — face burglary charges.

The girl was not harmed.