California girl, 9, keeps her cool and calls 911 during attempted home invasion

A remarkably calm 9-year-old girl kept her cool during a home invasion robbery in Southern California, calling 911 and bringing police to the scene in time to catch the suspect, authorities said Tuesday.

The terrifying incident unfolded just before 6 a.m. on Friday when an intruder broke into the family’s home in Westminster, about 35 miles southeast of downtown Los Angeles, police said.

The girl was upstairs and maintained her composure long enough to call 911 for help.

“There’s someone breaking into my house,” she told dispatch supervisor Kristen Kannard. “Someone opened the window.”

The girl described the intruder screaming as the man forced his way into the home near Magnolia Street and Bolsa Avenue.

“They broke into the window already,” she said. “I heard downstairs “Open up! Open up! Open the door!’ And I heard him hitting the door.”

The girl’s father attacked the intruder with pepper spray, forcing his retreat, police said.

The 911 call brought officers to the neighborhood in three minutes, giving them enough time to seal off the area and capture 34-year-old suspect Jorge Mendoza Diaz.

He was booked on suspicion of burglary and trespassing.

“The WPD applauds the brave actions of the nine-year-old victim, who called 911, remained calm, and provided vital information to dispatchers, significantly contributing to the suspect’s timely apprehension,” according to a police statement. “The calm nature of the nine-year-old victim can clearly be heard in the 911 call.”

Westminster Police Chief Darin Lenyi said the girl has a future in law enforcement if she wants it.

“I am very glad that the actions of both the nine-year-old and her father were such that kept the situation from possibly becoming much more serious,” Lenyi said. “Based on her performance, I invite the nine-year-old, when she grows up, to become a member of the WPD as either a police officer or dispatcher.”