If not for her quick thinking,

a 15-year-old girl might have been injured or worse several weeks ago

when an armed burglar ransacked her south Fayette home while she was there

alone in the afternoon.

She retreated to the attic

and used a cell phone to call her parents, who alerted authorities. She

also peeked out a window and got a description of the suspect's vehicle,

which led to his arrest hours later, said Maj. Bruce Jordan of the Fayette

County Sheriff's Department.

The suspect had three handguns

in the car when police stopped him several hours later near a roadblock

at the intersection of Ga. Highway 92 South and Antioch Road, Jordan said.

A similar scene could play

out anywhere at any time, Jordan said, and he encourages parents to talk

with their children about strangers at the door and develop an emergency

plan for such occasions similar to the way a fire escape route is planned.

"In most burglaries, they'll

ring the door bell to see if anybody's home," Jordan explained. If

the person at the door is a stranger, the child should "pick up a

cordless phone and dial 911."

The child can explain the situation

to the dispatcher so officers can be alerted, Jordan said. And if the

situation turns out to be innocent, 911 dispatchers can always cancel

the call for emergency assistance, Jordan added.

"It's just a safety precaution,"

Jordan said. "In a distress situation, it's totally justified to

call 911, if nothing else than to put the teenager at ease."

Cheryl Rogers, director of

Fayette County's 911 Communications Center, said 911 dispatchers are trained

to handle such calls.

"Our folks work good with

children, too," Rogers said, explaining that dispatchers will stay

on the line with the child as long as it remains safe to do so. "I

feel very comfortable with people calling us in this type of situation."

Even leaving the phone line

open can help 911 dispatchers so they can hear what's going on, Rogers

said.

"If somebody was breaking

in, we'd certainly be able to hear that and tell the officers," Rogers

said.

Though some homes are equipped

with burglar alarm systems that have "panic" alarms, using those

can tie up the regular phone line so parents can't get through to check

on their children, Jordan said.

Children can also "hide"

from burglars by seeking shelter in a hall bathroom or the closet of their

bedroom, Jordan suggested, since burglars rarely look in those areas for

valuables. Children should avoid hiding in the master bedroom because

that's typically where burglars go first, he added.

The best advice parents can

give children is to never open the door to strangers, Jordan said. It's

also a good idea when children are home alone to make sure all doors are

locked and the garage door is shut, he added.

"This kind of crime happens

in Fayette County," Jordan said. "This was a pretty safe neighborhood

that this happened in."

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