10-year-old Girl Bravely Confronts Burglar At California Home

Like a scene from an old, yet popular movie, "Home Alone," a suspected burglary attempt was foiled by a brave 10-year-old girl. The incident was captured on a Ring camera at the girl’s home. The video showed a stranger approaching their open garage while the young girl waits inside their car for her mom to go out of the house.

A Regular Day

It was supposed to be a regular day after lockdown measures were eased in the state of California. At the time, Lola Letourneau was sitting inside her family’s SUV as it parked outside the garage of their Bakersfield home. The 10-year-old helps her mom by starting their vehicle and turning on the car’s air conditioning. It was around 4 p.m. when Lola espied a stranger approaching their home, KERO-TV reported.

The young girl, suspecting that the man is up to no good, suddenly darted out of the car right in front of the stranger, yelling, “Get out of here!” She also screamed so loud that it might have spooked the man, as the video footage shows.

A Brave Action

Lola then makes a beeline for her home. In an interview with the local news outlet, Lola said she knew she just needed to ask the stranger to leave. “So I just thought of a bunch of words to like tell him to go away,” the young girl stated.

The 10-year-old’s mother, Jordan Pendley, called her daughter very astute and brave. Pendley revealed to KFSN, another local TV, that she was also surprised. She admitted her daughter was pretty shaken and also felt bad for her 10-year-old. Despite her scared feelings, however, she still was able to keep her head and made a bold move, Pendley narrated.

Just Scream

Dylan Pendley, the stepdad of Lola, told KERO-TV he had prepared her stepdaughter for similar situations and had told her to just yell. “I mean, especially with the pandemic going on, there’s a lot of people home,” Dylan said. He added that he told Lola to just scream, and someone is definitely going to come outside to see what is wrong. “Fortunately, my neighbor, he came out,” the stepdad of Lola said.

Footage from security cameras shows the suspect driving around in a Mitsubishi Outlander Sport vehicle before approaching the garage of the Pendlys. KFSN reports that apparently, the stranger did not realize Lola was sitting inside the parked SUV. The family has reported the incident to the Kern County Sheriff’s Office. The Pendleys also said they would no longer let their children wait in the car for them and that from now on, everyone will walk out together.