12-year-old Palmdale girl runs to get help while home alone during burglary

PALMDALE, Calif. (KABC) -- A 12-year-old Palmdale girl jumped into action when she heard a burglar in the house while she and her 3-year-old sister were home alone.

The two kids were asleep inside their home on the 4200 block of Sorrell Avenue around 1:20 a.m. Wednesday. The 12-year-old woke up when she heard someone walking around inside the house.

The girl grabbed a knife and ran to her friend's house nearby. She pounded on the door until her best friend's mother opened the door.

"I woke up my husband and my husband came with her over here first to see what was going on, because her 3-year-old sister was left in the house by herself," said Antonette, a neighbor.

The neighbor called police, who found the 3-year-old unharmed.

Officers did not find the burglar. Investigators found a wrecked window screen at the home, which could have been how the culprit got into the house.

The mother apparently left the children alone so she could go to work.