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Young girls hide in bathroom, text for help during home invasion

Posted at 10:27 AM, Mar 02, 2017
and last updated 2017-03-02 10:27:32-05

MONTCLAIR, Calif. - Two young girls hid in a bathroom inside their California home on Tuesday when a man kicked in their front door and barged into the house, police said.

14-year-old Savannah Jones was babysitting her 4 year-old niece about 3:30 p.m. at their home in the 10200 block of Monte Vista Avenue when the suspect knocked on the door, the Montclair Police Department said in a news release.

Jones told police she looked out the front door peephole and saw an unknown man standing on her porch. She immediately sprung into action.

Jones hid her niece, Zoyee, in the bathroom and called her mother. While she was on the phone with her mom, she heard the front door being kicked in so she went to hide with her niece.

"I was very scared not so much for myself, but just Zoyee," Jones told KTLA.

While they were hiding in the bathroom Jones told Zoyee to keep quiet and texted with her mom, telling her she was scared the man would hear her. Maria Muratalla, Savannah's mom, said it was gut-wrenching not being able to get to the girls.

Muratalla called her neighbor, who called 911 and rushed over to the house. Police said the man ransacked the Muratalla's property and two rooms, but left without finding the girls hiding in the bathroom.

Savannah is now being hailed as a hero.

"She was very smart and brave," Yesenia Barragan, Savannah's sister, said. "She did everything right."

Police and a K-9 officer searched the area but the man was not found.