Little girl helps nab Antioch home invasion suspect


The mother was able to call 911 while the man wandered through her home, but could not prevent him from going upstairs where her young daughter Janay was in her bedroom.

Yeager was told by police to grab her toddler son Jerman and flee the home as officers pulled up outside.

"I asked him what are you doing here and he said –'This is my house,'" Yeager said. "He just went upstairs. That was my chance to get out of the house with my baby. I was following instructions from the police."

Meanwhile, the man – identified as 21-year-old Demaria Lopez – was upstairs with her daughter.


Janay later told her mom the man said nothing, but acted strangely.


"My daughter said he was just quiet. They did not talk," Yeager told KTVU Fox 2. "He sat on the playpen in her room. When he saw the police, he hid in the closet."

As officers searched the house, the little 4-year-old was standing at the top of the stairs. The officers told her to come down and she told them the suspect was hiding in her closet. Moments later, police cornered the suspect and a brief struggled ensued. He was finally taken into custody and the family was safe.

As for the little girl, her mother couldn't be prouder.

"My daughter was so brave and calm – She didn't panic," the mother said with pride.

In a strange twist, Yeager told KTVU the suspect's family lives just two doors down.

Yeager said the suspect's mother told her he was a good kid, but she wonders.

"Is he gonna come back?" asked Yeager.

Lopez was booked on suspicion of burglary and resisting arrest.