3 girls lock themselves in bathroom during Norwood Park home invasion

CHICAGO (WLS) -- Three young girls were home alone when police say two people broke in to a home in the Norwood Park neighborhood on Chicago's Northwest Side.

The girls hid in the bathroom and were able to call 911. Officers responded to a burglary in progress in the 6800-block of W. Hobart around 10:35 a.m. Thursday morning.

"They were watching TV, they heard a window break. They didn't stick around to see what the window broke from because I guess they heard someone coming through the window. They ran upstairs, they locked the bathroom door. The offenders even knocked on the bathroom door but they didn't say a word," Chicago Police Sgt. James Prah said.

The girls - sisters ages 11 and 8, and an 11-year-old friend - called 911 and called their parents.

The girls told their mom that "someone was trying to break into the house. And then my husband told them 'hide, call the police,'" said Beatriz Feller, the girls' mother.

"They did everything they were supposed to do. They locked themselves in the bathroom and didn't open it, they didn't even open it when the police came, until the call-taker was assuring them it was the police at the front door," Sgt. Prah said.

Police arrived and caught two suspects who fled the house. The girls were unharmed.

"I was relieved to see them. My heart was in my throat the whole ride over here," the girls' father, Charles Feller, said.

"When I leave the house every morning, I tell them, 'Wake up, make sure you guys are sticking together, and if you hear anything, run, hide, call 911,'" Beatriz Feller said.

The girls' mother is credited with preparing her two daughters what to do in case of an emergency.

"It's scary that something really could happen to your kids. So I'm glad they knew what to do," she said.

"Have a safe place in the house. A safe, secure place. A bathroom's great because it almost always has a lock on it. Call 911 first, hang up, then call the parents, then call 911 again so you can be on the phone with them until police arrive," Sgt. Prah said.

Police were able to apprehend one of the suspects immediately. Another was found hiding underneath a porch.

Area North detectives are continuing to investigate. Charges are pending.