RIVERSIDE, CA (KCAL/KCBS/KCBS/CNN) - When Sarah Stephens checked her security cameras to figure out what had caused a crash in her side yard, she was terrified by what she saw.
“I saw a girl hop over our fence, try to open our sliding glass door, and then she couldn't get in there,” Stephens explained. “And then she ran inside the dog house and hid there."
Stephens didn't know who the woman was, but she had been hearing sirens on the street behind her, so she had a feeling the woman was trying to get away from police.
She called 911, then woke up her husband.
"Got our shotgun out, got the baseball bat. If she somehow managed to come into our house, we were ready," Stephens said.
Sarah thought about letting her three dogs out in the yard, to chase the woman out of their house.
"We've got little dogs, but they're fierce and mighty," Stephens said.
But since she didn't know if the woman was armed, she waited for police to bring their K9.
It turns out the woman had been a passenger in a stolen car that had been involved in a pursuit.
Police tracked down the driver, 18-year-old Angelo Calamandrei, hiding in another neighbor's yard.
Stephens is relieved they were both caught, but can't stop thinking about what could have happened if she hadn't heard the noises and checked her cameras.
"I'm thankful that I was awake because if I was asleep, I would have never known that she was over here," she said.
The family said they now have more locks and motion detecting lights to prevent something like this from happening again.
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