MOUNT PROSPECT, IL (WLS/CNN) - A teenager hid as a stranger broke into her house, but thanks to her quick thinking she was able to scare the man away.
Little did he know, but the security camera was recording every move as the would-be burglar kicked in the door of the residence, then listened for the sound of anyone home.
He was also apparently unaware a 16-year-old girl had locked herself in a room upstairs and called her mother.
"I was eight minutes away from my house, it was so frightening, to have your child in your home and a stranger kicks your front door in," mother Bonnie Bridges said.
Bridges was able to watch the security camera from her phone, and got a good look at the suspect as he made his way up the stairs.
"He attempted to get in the first door that comes to upstairs, and that happened to be the door that was closed and locked with the teenager in that room," Greg Sill of the Mt. Prospect police said.
"She screamed bloody murder at the top of her lungs. It scared him to death, and he proceeded to run down the stairs and run out the front door," Bridges said.
Bridges said her daughter ran down the stairs a minute later and saw the suspect get into a silver car and drive away.
At the time, Bridges said she had no idea what the man's intentions were, but she's grateful her daughter was not hurt.
"It was very, very scary because I wasn't home to help her. She's 16 years old and she could never have overpowered him," Bridges said.
Police said the suspect was dressed in all black, baseball cap, t-shirt and shorts.
They said they believed he's between 55 and 65 years old.
Crimestoppers offered a $1,000 reward for his capture.
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