14-Year-Old Keeps Calm, Calls 9-1-1 During Armed Burglary

HOLLYWOOD (CBSMiami) – A quick-thinking teen home alone during an armed robbery called 911 to report the incident and helped police catch the culprit.

The 14-year-old boy hid inside his bedroom on Mckinley Street and 56th Avenue Saturday around 10:30 p.m. after he heard someone smash through a back window.

"He broke a window and I'm home alone, I'm 14," said the boy to a 911 dispatcher. "I don't know what he could do next."

The middle-schooler first used his cell phone to call for help. While on the phone with the dispatcher he also told her he sent a text message to his parents to let them know what was going on. The boy told the dispatcher his parents were in Miami helping his older brother move out of college.

"I heard the door being pounded I heard the knob trying to be turned... Someone is inside the house," the boy explained in the 9 minute 911 call. "I'm in the front room with a shoe horn as a weapon."

The boy said he was scared, but calmly talked the dispatcher through what was going on and even gave a description of the suspect to help police catch him.

Shaken, the boy stayed inside the house until police arrived and he was able to safely go outside.

"I see an officer, I see an officer," the relieved-sounding teen told the dispatcher.

Hollywood Police say they found 22-year-old McDowell Sherwood inside the house, armed with a knife. An arrest affidavit says he cut the screen of a back window and smashed the glass to get in. The report also shows a red suitcase with electronics and clothing was discovered lying on the floor near the front door.

Investigators say Sherwood told them he was having money issues and "had to do it" and then stated he knew he would have to do time.

A relative who did not want to be identified says she is sorry for what happened.

"I felt very bad for the family I know the child must be very scared, I apologize on behalf of mcdowell and us for what happened," she said. "I do wanna say that McDowell is not a bad person, he's a very good father. He just was off medication and he needs his medication. He never would have hurt anybody but he does need help."

Sherwood is still in jail, his family hasn't been able to come up with the money to post the $75,000 bond.