Ten-year-old Christopher King was working on his computer at home Friday afternoon when he heard a knock at the door.
“Must be a salesman,” he thought.
A quick look outside revealed otherwise. King, who was unsupervised, spotted two men circling the perimeter of the Lawrenceville home where he lives with his father and older brother.
“They didn’t look like salesmen,” said Christopher, who grabbed his cell phone and ran upstairs to his brother’s bedroom, hiding under the bed. As he dialed 911, he could hear glass breaking downstairs.
Christopher had company.
The bed where he hid has no dust ruffle, leaving Christopher partially exposed. He continued talking to the 911 operator until he heard the thieves come upstairs. By then police had all the information they needed and were en route, but Christopher was still at risk.
“It felt like they were in there forever,” said Christopher, who kept silent as the burglars ransacked his brother’s room, taking an X-Box and a pair of Air Jordans, among other items.
“I was crying very softly so they couldn’t hear me,” the youth told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. “I was real scared.”
At one point, according to Christopher, one of the thieves dropped something on the floor. Had he reached down to retrieve it, Christopher probably would have been discovered.
But the burglars remained oblivious of his presence, taking their time to collect valuables from the Halcyon Way residence. They were shocked when they heard Gwinnett County police outside.
“They were like, ‘The cops are here! The cops are here!’” Christopher said.
The intruders fled the home, but didn’t get far. Gwinnett County police said they apprehended one suspect — D’andrew Greene, 19 — after a short foot chase and were looking for his accomplice Friday night. Greene is charged with burglary and obstruction of a law enforcement officer.
Moments later, Christopher’s father, Charles King, pulled into the driveway with lunch for his son. He didn’t know why all the patrol cars were in his neighborhood until he saw that his back door had been kicked in.
“The cops were like, ‘Don’t move!’ and I told them, ‘This is my house,’” Charles King said. “Then I just started calling out for Christopher.”
The Cedar Hill Elementary School student, who will be entering fifth grade next month, finally emerged from under the bed, shaken but secure.
“When I heard my dad then I knew it was OK,” the boy said.
His father said the thieves would have gotten away with about $5,000 in clothing and electronics if not for his son’s quick thinking. Police said they recovered some electronics that had been removed from the home in the wood line behind the house and returned them to the family.
“Christopher King did an excellent job during this incident,” Gwinnett police Cpl. Jake Smith said in an email to the AJC. “He kept calm and contacted police while keeping himself out of harm’s way. His level-headed attitude, and the preparation he had received from his parents, served him well.”
Charles King said, “He’s just a real smart, mature 10-year-old.”
--Dispatch editor David Ibata contributed to this story.
About the Author
