A known gang member on the run from the Border Patrol locked himself in a family's home with children inside for more than an hour Friday morning.
Customs and Border Protection told NBC 7 that Border Patrol agents tried to pull over a car the suspect was in and the driver did not stop. After a short chase, all four people inside the car took off on foot.
The gang member ran into a family home where a father and three of his children were inside.
Valerie Martinez said she was in the middle of making breakfast for her little brother – a birthday tradition – when she turned around to see the suspect in her home.
Martinez said the suspect entered through a sliding door in the back of the house.
“I can hear when it opens... I usually hear it and this time I just didn't hear it,” she said.
Valerie said the man kept walking from the bathroom to the living room, telling the family to lock all the doors and to close the blinds. He then got on his knees and started begging the family to let him hide in their home, trying to show them that he didn't have any weapons.
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The youngest of the kids, an 11- year-old girl, was told to hide in her room. The father eventually came up with a plan to distract the intruder and allow police a window to come inside the house.
Valerie said her dad suggested to the suspect that he hide in the bathroom. When he went in he closed the door on him and ran outside. Then he ran to the door and signaled to police that the man was there.
San Diego Police Department officers eventually entered the home and made the arrest. CBP said the three other suspects were also arrested in separate incidents. One of the three was also a documented gang member.
No one was hurt in the incident. Oddly enough, the family said about a year ago they experienced a similar incident where a man tried to get in their house.
That time, thankfully, the doors and windows were locked.
