In a scene reminiscent of the 1990 Christmas classic “Home Alone,” a quick-thinking Long Island boy foiled a robbery by leaping out of his bedroom window and calling police as he hid in the backyard of his Medford home.
The incident occurred on Tuesday afternoon when the 12-year-old child heard glass breaking in the kitchen and someone moving around the house, according to Suffolk County police. He then jumped from his window and saw an unknown man creeping around inside the home.
Taking cover behind his garage, the composed seventh grader, identified by CBS News as Tristen Taylor, called 911. Cops said they arrived to the Eagle Avenue home within three minutes and found that 53-year-old Christian Garcia had “broken a kitchen window and was inside the residence.”
Police were unable to tell the Daily News where the child’s parents were at the time of the break-in, but confirmed the boy was unharmed in the incident.
Garcia, who police say is homeless, was arrested and charged with third-degree burglary and possession of burglary tools. He was scheduled to be arraigned Christmas Eve morning, though the outcome of that court appearance wasn’t immediately known. Garcia’s attorney couldn’t be reached for comment.
The burglary came the same day that Suffolk County prosecutors announced the indictment of a 34-year-old Massapequa man accused of raping and robbing a 12-year-old boy left home alone earlier this month. Investigators said Marquise Utsey met his tween accuser on a mobile app.
Suffolk County District Attorney Raymond Tierney called the alleged crime “a profound betrayal of basic human decency.”
