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Police: Teen Hailed Hero In Burglar's Arrest

POSTED: 8:57 pm MST January 16, 2008
UPDATED: 8:43 am MST January 17, 2008

A 14-year-old boy home alone heard a noise in the kitchen, saw a man breaking in, ran to his room and called 911 just before confronting the intruder who was twice his size, Mesa police said.

“My house is being robbed,” Michael Six told the 911 operator in a just-released tape.

“What’s going on?” the operator asked.

“Someone just broke into my house,” Six said.

The boy’s quick actions along with other information he provided to the 911 operator in the face of danger on Tuesday morning enabled police to recognize and catch the man after a short foot chase, said detective Chris Arvayo.

Thomas Garza, 30, of Chandler, was spotted by police leaving the victim’s home. Refusing officer’s commands to stop, the man ran into the back yard of a neighboring home, where he was apprehended, Arvayo said.

Garza dropped several items along the way that police used to tie him to the break-in, according to Arvayo.

After Six called 911, Garza forced his way into the boy’s room.

Six was hiding in the closet as the burglar closed in. The boy said he grabbed a baseball bat and let the burglar have it.

“This is the only thing I had to use so I decided to hit him," Six said. “He turned around and he had a screwdriver or a knife and he said he was going to kill me."

Garza made threatening gestures and then fled, according to Arvayo.

The teen pried open his bedroom window, climbed through and flagged down patrol officers who had just arrived on scene, Arvayo said.

Garza faces several felony charges including residential burglary, aggravated assault on a minor, criminal trespassing and criminal damage. He is being held at the Maricopa County Jail.

Police said Garza has been named as a person of interest in other recent residential burglaries in Mesa. Those investigations are ongoing, officers said.

Arvayo said the teen’s calm actions are a prime example of when and how to use 911.

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