Crime & Safety

Piedmont Boy, 10, Gives Police Eyewitness Account of Attempted Burglary

A would-be burglar tried to break down the front door of a Grand Avenue home.

An alert 10-year-old boy provided Piedmont police with details of an attempted burglary last week, according to Police Capt. Scott Wyatt.

The boy gave a vivid description of one would-be burglar that he saw trying to break down the front door of a neighbor's home on Grand Avenue between 6 and 6:30 p.m. on Tuesday, Aug. 27, Wyatt said.


He said the boy was home alone except for the family's dog when he saw a black SUV containing two people pull up at the neighbor's house. 

The boy saw two people get out of the SUV, Wyatt said. One of them went to the front door of the neighbor's home, then hit the door with his shoulder as if trying to break it down, the boy reported.

He described the man as a "skinny, bald white man with a pointy goatee," probably 30 to 40 years old, wearing a white T-shirt.

While the boy was watching, someone rang the doorbell of his own home and the dog began barking. The young man didn't open the door and told police he could only see that the person at the door was wearing a fishing hat.

The boy told police that the person in the fishing hat then joined the man with the goatee, and they both walked down the side of the neighbor's home before driving away.

The youth phoned his mother, and she reported the incident to the Piedmont Police Department. A police officer was able to interview the boy to confirm details, Wyatt said.

He said the boy set an excellent example for other Piedmont residents by reporting the incident in such detail.

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