Girl, Dad, police stop intruder

A brave 9-year-old girl, her stalwart father and quick-arriving Westminster police combined to stop and arrest a man who had broken into a home in the area of Magnolia Street and Bolsa Avenue.

The incident, which took place in the pre-dawn hours of Friday, resulted in the arrest of Jorge Mendoza Diaz, 34, of Westminster.

At 5:53 a.m. the WPD dispatcher received a cell phone call from the girl, who reported that someone was trying to break into her home through a downstairs window.

The suspect, later identified as Diaz, allegedly smashed through a window and entered the home.

The girl’s father, who was in the kitchen, confronted the intruder and dosed him with pepper spray and dragged him out of the house. Diaz then fled the scene, jumping a fence to a nearby home and hid in the backyard, according to Commander Michael Harvey.

WPD officers arrived within three minutes of the call, established a perimeter and located the suspect. He was arrested and faces charges of residential burglary and trespass.

“I am very glad that the actions of both the 9-year-old girl and her father were such that kept the situation from becoming much more serious,” said WPD Police Chief Darin Lenyi. “I invite the 9-year-old, when she grows up, to become a member of the WPD as either a police officer or a dispatcher.”

Lanyi also has praise for the “stellar” work of Dispatch Supervisor Kristen Kannard interacting with the child.