An 11-year-old boy's 911 call helped police rescue him from a home during a burglary and take three suspects into custody, Hollywood police said.
Luis Gutierrez, 11, was home alone in the 4900 block of Johnson Street shortly before 6 p.m. Thursday when he heard breaking glass and men talking, police said. The child hid under a bed and called 911.
"At first, I thought there was two people. They were running across the room, yelling at each other. They were trying to say something, but I couldn't hear them," Luis told Local 10.
LISTEN: 911 call
In the 911 call, which police released Friday, the boy told the dispatcher that his parents had gone to the gas station, and that someone was in his home.
"How do you know he's in the house if you can't see him?" the dispatcher asked.
"I hear him," Luis said.
Some noise can be heard on the tape, and when the dispatcher asked Luis what it was, he said, "I'm trying to hide."
"So, were you moving furniture?" she asked.
"Yeah," Luis said.
The dispatcher can then be heard saying to someone else, "That's what he says. I don't know if it's for real or not."
"It's real. It's real," Luis said.
Luis's father had gone out to get them something to eat. He had only been gone for five minutes when his son called to say that someone had just thrown a hammer through the back window.
"I was speeding. I was nervous. I dialed 911 myself, and that's when they told me that one of the operators was speaking to him at the same time," the boy's father said.
Luis hid under his bed with the family dog the whole time the burglars were ransacking the house, dumping drawers, rummaging through cabinets. They even ripped up his school certificates.
When the dispatcher asked Luis how the intruder got into the house, the boy said, "He broke the glass," from a kitchen window.
The boy told the dispatcher he could hear two men talking, but he couldn't make out what they were saying.
At the dispatcher's prompting, Luis described his own location in the house, and what side of the house he thought the intruders were on.
"Are the cops here yet?" the boy asked.
"Be quiet, OK? Talk very softly, OK?" the dispatcher said.
The dispatcher told the child that the police officers are outside the house. Officers broke the window to the bedroom where the boy was hiding and got him out safely.
The officers took three suspects into custody. Police said they were teenagers who almost got away with some jewelry.
Hollywood police said the three men face charges of burglary of an occupied structure, grand theft and possession of burglary tools.
Luis was upset about his damaged school certificates, but he was glad the burglars did not venture to the side of the house where he was hiding. His father said he was proud of how his little boy kept his cool while hiding under his bed.
"He's very smart, and he did an outstanding job," Luis's father said.