Twins Help Detroit Cops Catch Suspect

DETROIT (myFOXDetroit.com) -- Twins home from school because of the snow helped Detroit Police catch a suspect. When the man broke into their home, they took action.

Detroit Police from the Sixth Precinct rushed to a home on Auburn. That's after a 9-1-1 call alerting them that someone had broken into the home with children inside.

"Observed fresh footprints leading to a rear bedroom window. At that bedroom window, we noticed a city of Detroit trash can propped underneath the window that was busted and shattered, and we realized at that point in time we had a... home invasion," said Detroit Police Officer Quinten Maxey.

12-year-old twins Mikal and Marques Hill are students at the Michigan Technical Academy. They were home because of the snow day. They heard the break-in, locked themselves in a bathroom, and called their mother, who called 9-1-1.

"I was scared," said Marques Hill. He was asked what he did and responded, "Ran to the bathroom and locked the door, and I called my mama and told her somebody was in the house."

"I'm proud of them because they thought really smart," said Crystal Crooks, the twins' mother.

The first officers on the scene called for backup, and then one proceeded into the basement and found the 18-year-old suspect, who had an outstanding felony warrant.

"I found a perpetrator hiding underneath several boxes in a rear, basement room," said Detroit Police Officer Almondo Travis. "I think... he may have been a little surprised that we saw him because he was kneeled down with his hood over his head."

Police say the suspect lives in the neighborhood about three blocks from the home and may have been staking it out.

The children's mother says she's pleased with the quick police response.

"The kids are the true heroes because they're the ones who maintained courageous calm in spite of the fact that there was a person in the home with them, and they gave us the information for us to make the location. I am very proud of those children," Travis said.