| Pleasanton boy lauded for foiling break-in | |
| By
Rebecca Wallace Staff Writer |
|
Pleasanton - Too much television may be bad for your health - but a little TV helped make 11-year-old Christopher Sumerlin a hero.
On Tuesday, state Attorney General Bill Lockyer gave Christopher an award for helping police nab two burglars who broke into the family's Pleasanton home Sept. 10.
It was nothing. Christopher said. All he had to do was keep calm and tell the 911 dispatchers where to go, something he learned from watching police shows.
"All these TV programs told me what to do," the Pleasanton Middle School sixth-grader said with a smile.
Scared boy reacts quickly
Christopher was home alone about 5 p.m., "making models of little Army men," when he heard glass breaking at the back of the house, he said.
"I was just scared because I didn't know what was happening," he said.
"I didn't know what was going to happen if they actually found me."
Christopher called 911, and Pleasanton police dispatchers told him to hide in a locked room because the burglars were right outside, he said.
He gave them a thorough description of the two men and their car, dispatcher Alda Nash said.
"It was exceptional as far as being such a good reporting party," she said. "He was our eyes and ears."
Two men arrested
Police showed up a few minutes later ("It seemed like hours," Christopher admitted) and arrested the two men, Ryan Rich, 21 of Felton and Jeremy Lacy, 20, of Ben Lomond.
The two pleaded guilty Monday to felony burglary and are expected to be sentenced Oct. 25 to two years in state prison, Alameda County Deputy District Attorney Deborah Streicher said.
"You've raised an exemplary kid." Lockyer said Tuesday to Christopher's parents, Judy and William Sumerlin, at an awards ceremony in San Mateo.
"This kid did absolutely everything perfectly," Pleasanton police Chief Tim Neal said.
"He was totally calm, calmer than the police officers responding."
Tri-Valley Herald - Wednesday, September 29, 1999