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Terrified teen hides in closet as burglars crash through window

SEATTLE — A young teenager who was alone at his South Seattle home when burglars crashed through a window hid in a closet while they ransacked the house.

“They kept banging on the door and then I knew something was up,” said the teen.

Police said he did the right thing by hiding in a closet and staying calm, while whispering to 911 dispatchers.

The boy said when the two burglars forced their way in, it brought his worst ongoing fear into reality.

“Like at night, I just lay in bed and I’m like, ‘What if somebody robbed the house?’ What would it be like, what would I do, stuff like that,” he said.

With the intruders inside, the boy grabbed his phone and hid out.

“I went into my closet and I called the police and told them what was going on,” said the boy.

Meanwhile, the burglars gathered valuables, laptops and even broke a piggy bank filled with college funds.

“I was hearing people moving throughout the house going up and down the stairs, banging on the doors,” the teen said.

He said he was terrified, but sat motionless.

“(It was) like I could actually hear my heart beating.  It was kind of crazy,” he said.

That’s when the burglars got too close.

“They went up to my room, they opened the door and they opened my closet, and when they saw me they ran out as fast as they could and the police were already outside,” the boy said.

As KIRO’s Chopper 7 flew overhead, officers noticed the burglars left their getaway car behind, which had a wallet, IDs and cellphones inside.

Though the burglars left a ransacked house, they got away with nothing.

“After they got away and after I got back in the house, the whole house was a mess and now I’m just really angry,” said the teen.

Seattle police detectives are trying to track the car and the IDs to the burglars, who were described as tall, wearing hooded sweatshirts and masks.

There have been other break-ins in the same south Seattle neighborhood before and neighbors believe the same pair are likely responsible.

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