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12-year-old girl fends off burglar with knife in Lake Wales; suspect at large

A young girl woke up and saw the man standing behind her dresser trying to unplug the television.
Photo: Lake Wales Police Department

LAKE WALES, Fla. -- Police are looking for a man they say broke into a home on Monday and tried to steal a television.

A 12-year-old girl told police she woke up around 9:30 a.m. and saw a man standing behind her dresser trying to unplug the television. When she asked him what he was doing, he said, "my uncle told me to get my phone." He then left out the back door of the home.

Police say when the victim went out the front of her house she saw the suspect standing in the front yard. He tried to talk to her, but she went back inside and saw the kitchen window shattered. She then grabbed a knife and went to get help.

Police released a sketch of the suspect and describe him as a black man, approximately 5-foot-7 with short hair and partial facial hair. He was wearing a white hat, a white t-shirt with red and blue stripes, acid-washed shorts and red, white and blue Air Jordan shoes.

Anyone with information about the identity of the suspect is asked to call police at (863) 678-4223 or Heartland Crime Stoppers at (800) 226-8477.

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