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Police have arrested four people accused of forcing their way into a West Valley City home overnight while a mother and her two young children were inside.
The woman who was home at the time of the invasion says her family has been robbed before and they feel as if they are being targeted. That is one of the reasons she did not want to go on camera, but she did invite us in her home to tell us what happened.
She says last night at about 7:30 someone rang the doorbell. When she didn't answer, she says they started banging on the door and turning the door knob but it was locked, so they left. She called her husband who was on his way home at the time, so she didn't call police.
About 30 minutes later when the woman and her two children were upstairs, the door from the garage opened and four people made their way inside. The woman says she grabbed her 3-year-old and 13-year-old daughters and put them inside a closet. She then called 911 and waited behind the locked door.
Police say they believe the intruders heard the woman upstairs and took off, but while the suspects were leaving police arrived and arrested Celene Fortune, Laura Sanchez, Chris Brown and a fourth suspect who police say is a juvenile.
Lt. Bill Merritt, with the West Valley City Police Department, said, "These people are facing residential burglary charges, a very serious crime; it's a second-degree felony."
Merritt say they are seeing more and more burglaries like this, especially during the holiday season, but he says it happens year round, and the suspects are getting more forceful while doing it.
"People are getting brave and getting bold, and they are just employing that tactic - knock on that door and if I get a response I'll make up a story and go to the next house. If not, I'll boot your door in, and maybe you're home and maybe you're not," he said.
Merritt says the family did the right thing by hiding. He says that is the next best thing to do if you can't get out of the house.
E-mail: spark@ksl.com
