Teen survives home invasion

ALBUQUERQUE (KRQE) - One of Albuquerque's most wanted burglars is in jail thanks to a 13-year-old girl and her grandmother.
 
The teen was home alone when the thief broke in and without her, police say the burglar could still be out there.

The 13-year-old girl, who didn't want to be identified, was home sick last Monday when she heard a knock on the door.

She said Adrian Santistevan, 26, was staring at her through the peep hole.

"He started knocking on the windows all around the house, and that's when I knew he was going to come in," she said.

At first she hid under a table, then she said she could hear the burglar climbing through the bathroom window.

"I was very scared. I was shaking," she added.

The teen was on the phone with 9-1-1 and a dispatcher told her to lock herself in the bedroom, but it was too late. As she ran to the hallway, she locked eyes with the suspect.

"When I screamed he got up and he looked angry and he came at me," she said. "He chased me out of my house."

The teen said they both bolted down the hall.

"I could feel his arm like he was trying to grab the back of me, maybe my shirt or my hair," said the girl.

She had called her mom when she noticed Santistevan outside. The mom called the girl's grandmother who showed up just in time. As the teen ran outside along with the burglar, Grandma chased him down the street. She was able to help police find, identify and arrest the burglar.

Online court records show Santistevan has been burglarizing homes since he was 18. He's been on the list of the city's top five property crime offenders since 2010.

The teen says she's especially thankful to the dispatcher who kept her calm through the ordeal. She says if the dispatcher hadn't told her to run when she saw the burglar she's not sure what would have happened.