GRANITE FALLS, Wash. — A 12-year-old girl in Granite Falls was home alone when a burglar broke in Wednesday afternoon. Detectives say she did the “right thing” by escaping to a neighbor’s home and calling 9-1-1.
Skyla Bristol says it began with a knock on the door around 3 p.m. Her gut told her something was wrong, so she didn’t open it.
“Then he came over and started pounding on the windows,” Skyla says. “It was really terrifying.”
When the man tried to open the front door, Skyla ran out through a different door, approached a neighbor and called police and her mother.
Ragen Bristol works just three blocks away and rushed home to confront the suspect who terrified her daughter. She arrived before an officer did and saw the suspect leaving in her other car.
“He had just gotten into our truck and started it up. I got up and threw my arms up,” Bristol says, “He drove through a garden to miss hitting me and waved at me as he drove off.”
The “waving” was only part of the suspect’s alleged bizarre behavior.
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While the suspect ransacked the home for 20 minutes, he also picked up the phone pretending to be a house-sitter. After watching the surveillance videos, the family says they’re shocked by how comfortable the man seemed to be in their home.
“The audacity of doing something like that,” Bristol says. “Who does that? Who just waves at you and steals your vehicle at the same time?”
The suspect led officers on a high-speed chase in Bristol’s car but got away Wednesday afternoon. Detectives say the suspect was located and arrested on Thursday.
“That’s a relief because my daughter wasn’t feeling safe being in the house anymore,” Bristol said.
The Bristols say discussing possible emergency situations with their children helped in this case. They also recommend for parents to identify trustworthy neighbors who can look after children who may be home alone.
Cox Media Group
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