Waltham Boy Calls 911 With Break-In Suspect Inside Home
WALTHAM (CBS) – A 911 call from a boy who locked himself in a bedroom during a break-in helped police track down and eventually arrest a suspect.
Police received a 911 call from a Florence Road home Friday afternoon from a 12-year-old boy who told dispatch there was a man inside his home.
Speaking in a whisper, the boy answered a series of questions police asked him.
Fearing that the suspect would hear the boy, police had the child answer yes or no questions using the numbers on his phone.
After a short time, police entered the house with their guns drawn but did not find the suspect.
Police then found Richard Poirier, 33, in the area of Virginia Road. He allegedly ran from officers, but they caught up to and arrested Poirier after a chase.
"He had a hood and a backpack and he was like a gazelle, very fast," said neighbor Richard Ciccariello, who witnessed Poirer's attempted escape from officers.
When police searched a backpack Poirier dropped during the chase they found jewelry, a laptop, an iPad and a hammer.
In addition, officers found that Poirier had dropped a camera, which was connected to a break-in on Thornton Road earlier in the day, Waltham police said.
Poirier faces seven charges related to the two break-ins.
Neighbor Leslie Waldo praised the boy's actions during the ordeal.
"I think he was really, really brave. He must've been scared to death. I think he handled it really well his parents taught him what to do," Waldo said.