A teenage boy in the Detroit area has been arrested and connected to about a dozen break-ins of homes where he targeted young girls.
The unnamed 13-year-old has been arrested and is being held at a youth center.
He has been connected to nine break-ins throughout the Detroit suburb of Pontiac and two in Detroit, police said, according to WDIV.
The most recent attack involved a masked suspect entering the home of a 10-year-old girl, WDIV noted. The attacker was armed with a knife and dressed in all black. He choked the child as she slept, authorities said.
The assaults date to 2022.
“This is the worst nightmare for any parent: that somebody might be trying to climb in through a window to get after their kids, especially a young teenage girl,” Oakland County Sheriff Michael Bouchard said, according to WDIV.
Prosecutors in Oakland County, Michigan, are reviewing the evidence. The boy’s parents are cooperating with police.
Monica Smith is the mom to one of the girl’s attacked and she told WDIV that she is scared to return home after the assault earlier this week. On February 4, she woke up to the sounds of her daughter screaming.
“I’m like, ‘Kaylee, what’s wrong?' She didn’t say. She kept on screaming,” Smith told the outlet. “I see a guy just shoot out from her room, and then Kaylee started yelling that the guy was choking her.”
Police said the suspect pushed garbage cans against the window to gain access.
Police released information about the cases and say community tips helped identify the suspect.
“The invasion of a child's bedroom by a threatening intruder is a profoundly disturbing experience, and this incident has understandably caused significant distress among parents of young children. It appears the suspect was targeting residences of young girls. We will hand this case to the prosecutor for further proceedings, but we wanted to notify the public as soon as possible,” Bouchard said in a statement.
