FRESNO, Calif. (KMPH) -
A pair of foreign exchange students wakes up to find a burglar in their home -- a teenager who threatens to hurt them with a gun.
It's the latest hot prowl in a series of burglaries to hit Fresno.
It happened in broad daylight Friday afternoon in northeast Fresno, near the corner of Bullard and Millbrook.
Norah Albalawi and her brother Abdullah were home at the time.
Norah Albalawi says, "I'm not going to stay here anymore in America. It's very scary first time my country is very safe."
Police say the crook broke in through a back window, ransacked the home, and didn't even care the two were asleep in their bedrooms.
Norah says thankfully her bedroom door was locked.
Norah says, "He said open the door or something like that. He said I have gun."
Abdullah woke up, and locked himself in his bedroom.
They both called police.
With the help of the sheriff's department helicopter, police saturated the area. They ended up finding the teenager just a few blocks away. He had with him a bag full of coins and also in his pockets police say he had jewelry.
Neighbor John Miller says, "I was sitting in my kitchen window and saw this fellow run by north to south."
John Miller then saw several cop cars in front yard arresting the 16-year-old suspected hot prowler.
Miller says now's the time for neighborhoods need to ban together and help catch these crooks.
John Miller says, "Here the police department is busting their butt, keeping the bad guys off the street and then the system is letting them back out. It's not right."
Police say the teenager is responsible for more than 20 burglaries in Fresno.
Norah says if this guy was in Saudi Arabia the outcome would be much different.
Reporter asks, "If he was convicted of 3, 4 or 5 burglaries, would he get his hands cut off?"
Norah says, "Of course, I think that is fair."
Norah says she plans to go back home later this month, and has a story to tell her family.
