Boy of 12 Helps Cops Nab Thief, The Man Pays Him a Visit After Being Released – Story of the Day

Sebastian saw a strange man enter a neighbor's house and called the cops. However, they took too long, so he grabbed a stick from the yard and threatened the thief. However, Sebastian never expected to see that man again after the cops arrested him.

The snores from his babysitter were deafening, and Sebastian was pretty bored. His mother was at work, and his father had been away for military business for a few days. Therefore, he had to stay with Mrs. Crawler, an older woman who lived next door.

She usually slept the entire time during babysitting, but that was fine. Sebastian usually did his homework and sometimes played outside but not far. His parents had raised the 12-year-old to be a good boy. He never got into trouble, although he sometimes wanted to do risky things.

However, his father's voice would echo in his mind every time he wanted to do something naughty.

"Sebastian, a real man is not defined by his muscles or how tough he pretends to be. Only actions define a real man. Bravery, honesty, responsibility, and honor are great values to learn, and those values will guide all your actions," his father would often say. "I want you to be a man anyone would be proud to know. Being in the army makes some people think they have to act like tough guys. That's not the case."

"I warn you! You have to leave! I won't fall for the tricks of a thief!"

"But you have to be strong in the army, right?" Sebastian asked him once during this particular speech.

"Yes, you must be strong, but that comes from working hard. When a soldier is sent to a war zone, they show their true colors, and usually, the 'tough guys' are the first ones to run or leave a friend behind," his father answered thoughtfully. "I don't want you to be that kind of man. I want you to be the kind of man who will go into a fire to save a family or stand up for a woman who's being harassed in public. Do you understand?"

"Yes, Dad," the boy nodded seriously, and his father was always proud that he listened intently to his speeches. Sometimes, these sermons changed a bit, but the message was always the same. Sebastian had to be a man of honor, a fighter against bullies, and a defender of women.

If he got into trouble for lighting a firework that scared a neighbor, would his father be too disappointed? Sebastian didn't know. His friend, Elias, who lived on their street, was into much mischief.

They were good friends but polar opposites most of the time. Elias's parents were wealthy and absent, and he did whatever he wanted because no one in his home cared much. Sebastian sometimes envied him for not feeling like the entire world's responsibility was on his shoulders.

However, Elias once came over for dinner and said he wished he could be with their family more often, and Sebastian felt terrible. He learned from a young age that the grass is often not really greener on the other side.

Another snore from Mrs. Crawler snapped him from his thoughts. He sighed and hoped something exciting would happen. He was tired of television and his phone. And suddenly, movement outside caught his eye.

Mrs. Crawler's front window looked right into the front neighbor's house. Mr. and Mrs. Alexander lived there and had a two-year-old child in daycare all day long while they went to work. So, their house was empty until late that night, so it was weird that someone was over there. Still, Sebastian walked to the window and stared at the strange man on their porch.

Suddenly, the man jumped through the window, and Sebastian's eyes widened. "Mrs. Craw—" he stopped, not wanting to wake the old woman up. Sebastian remembered something his mother had said a few days ago.

The window on the Alexanders' home was broken by a branch from the tree in their yard. A storm had made it crash through the window, and they had cut it to prevent it from happening again. However, they had yet to fix the issue. This was a good neighborhood, so they weren't worried about burglaries. But Sebastian thought they should've been.

The man was clearly a thief, or he would've tried knocking. But what could the boy do? He grabbed Mrs. Crawler's home phone and dialed 911.

"Someone broke into the neighbor's house. It's a stranger! Come quick!" the 12-year-old told the operator, who asked him a few more questions. However, she sounded too relaxed when she said a squad car would be over soon.

The thief would get away with whatever he wanted, so Sebastian had to do something. He was going to show his bravery and sense of honor. He was going to confront the thief like a real man.

He exited Mrs. Crawler's house without waking her and crossed the street quickly. He stopped himself from jumping through the window, realizing he couldn't walk into the house with nothing to defend himself. He grabbed one of the remaining branches from the cut-down tree and jumped.

He saw the man's shadow right away. "Stop right there! This is not your home! You must leave right now, and nothing will happen!" Sebastian threatened to hold the branch menacingly in his arms.

The man froze initially, but he spotted the skinny 12-year-old and breathed. "Jesus, kid. Hey, don't worry. Put that down. I'll be done soon, and I'll leave," the man said and started for one of the bedrooms.

"HEY! No! You have to leave. This is not your home!"

"It was my home. My things are here. I'll be just a second, OK?" the man insisted, raising his hand in a stop gesture.

Sebastian didn't know what to do then. He was ready for some kind of confrontation, but the man was convincing. Somehow, he believed him, but this was the first time Sebastian had ever met a thief. They could all be like that.

"I warn you! You have to leave! I won't fall for the tricks of a thief!" Sebastian followed him into the room and saw him lifting a rug. "DON'T TOUCH THAT!"

"Kid, calm down. I said this would be quick," he continued, not paying much attention to anything. He was trying to lift a floorboard that wouldn't budge. Unexpectedly, the sounds of a police car echoed in the air, and the man looked up at the preteen, showing anger for the first time.

"Well, let's see what you found then," she asked, lifting her chin.

"Did you call the cops?" he asked, standing up in a panic.

"YES! I did! It's my duty as an honorable man!" Sebastian said, and the man didn't wait for anything else. He ran through the house toward the window and jumped out. Sebastian followed and told the cops that man was the thief. They pursued and arrested the thief, luckily.

***

"A toast to my brave boy – I mean, man! - for helping catch the thief! I'm so proud of you, Sebastian," his father said during dinner that night. Elias was with them again.

"Man! I wish you had called me. I would've beat that thief up and given him to the cops myself," Elias joked, fake punching the air.

The boys laughed, but Sebastian's mother was not too happy. "The next time, Sebs, you'll let the cops handle everything. This petty burglar was nothing, but some thieves have knives or guns. Anything could've happened," she shook her head and ate her food.

"Melinda, calm down. Your son is a brave man, just like his father. You should praise him and then give him a lecture," his father intervened. "Son, the truth is that your mom is right. You did a good thing, but it could've been dangerous. We're glad you're OK and that we raised a son who's not afraid of fighting for what's right."

"Here, Here!" Elias cheered, and they enjoyed the rest of dinner.

***

The only issue is that Sebastian wasn't sure he had done the right thing. The man's words had been pretty convincing. He told Elias while they played basketball outside after dinner, and his friend shook his head.

"That's probably what all thieves say," his buddy scoffed.

"That's what I thought, too. But I don't know. He wasn't threatening me or anything. He didn't even look like a burglar," Sebastian continued, pursing his lips.

Elias stopped bouncing the ball and looked at his friend. "How about we check?" he suggested.

"What do you mean?"

"Let's go to the Alexanders tomorrow when no one's there and open that floorboard. See what's in there," his friend explained, and Sebastian knew it was wrong. He would never do that under normal circumstances, but he couldn't get the feeling that he was wrong about the man out of his chest.

"OK."

"Really?" Elias was shocked. "You really must believe that man."

"I do. But I have to check," Sebastian nodded.

***

They jumped through the same broken window the next day, and Sebastian led Elias toward the room where he saw the man trying to lift the floorboard. "Help me. The man couldn't lift it before the cops showed up," he asked.

Elias had a key in his pocket, and they used it to lift one side. They managed it after a few minutes and discovered a vintage-looking watch and red handkerchief wrapped around some cash.

Sebastian was confused. "This is it? This is what the man wanted?"

"It doesn't seem like much. There's only about $500. I guess any burglar would take it," Elias agreed that it was odd.

"Do you think he might've been telling the truth?" Sebastian questioned again, but his friend shook his head.

"I don't know."

"What are you boys doing here?" a female voice exclaimed out of the blue. She had arrived earlier than ever.

"AAH!" they both yelled, scared. They turned to the door and saw Mrs. Alexander with the two-year-old in her arms.

"My God! I thought the burglar was back! What did you two do to my floor?" Mrs. Alexander continued, peeved. "I'm calling your parents right now!"

"NO!" the boys said, and they got their neighbor to listen to their story. Luckily, she was a mother in her 20s and seemed very understanding.

"Well, let's see what you found then," she asked, lifting her chin. They showed her the items. "I have never seen this watch before, and my husband hates the idea of hiding cash in the house. So, you guys might be right."

They all laughed. "Thank you!" Sebastian said, unexpectedly more excited than ever.

"Do you think that man lived here?" Sebastian continued.

"Maybe. I'm not sure. The previous owner was a woman, but I only met her once. It was quick, and I don't remember her name," Mrs. Alexander said. "I'm going to let you keep that. But please, never come into the house like this. It's too scary."

"Thank you, Mrs. Alexander," the boys said and exited her house through the front door.

They told Sebastian's parents of their findings and what the burglar had said. "Well, I guess you can keep that stuff, son," his father shrugged, not caring much.

"Dad, no. This doesn't belong to me. If it belongs to that man, we have to return it to him," the preteen shook his head.

"Those things might belong to him, but he still committed a crime. Breaking and entering is a crime, and you're just lucky Mrs. Alexander was nice to you," his father added.

"But keeping what's not yours is also a crime," Sebastian retorted bravely. "We have to return this or try to."

His father stared at him with a thoughtful expression and finally smiled and nodded. "Alright. We'll go to the police tomorrow and ask about the man."

"Thank you, Dad."

***

"Albert, how do we know these items are yours?" the police officer asked the man who was still in the cell at the station because he couldn't pay bail. The boy and his father had brought in the items, and the cops recognized him as the boy who had helped days earlier.

They listened to him, but the boy insisted on trying to see if the thief was the owner. To their shock, the man revealed exactly what was beneath the floorboard.

"My father's old watch has his initials on the back, and some money was wrapped in a red handkerchief. That's all I wanted," Albert told the officer interrogating him. "That house belonged to my mother. I saw her putting that stuff there years ago after my father died. But when she died, I was abroad. My sister sold the house without my knowledge, and I just returned. I wanted to get my father's watch mostly. I don't care about the money."

The officer nodded and returned him to the cell. Sebastian and his father didn't witness any of that conversation. They were told to leave the items for the investigation, and the preteen boy hoped that he was right and that the man wasn't a thief.

***

A few days later, an unexpected knock came at their door, and his mother opened the door to see Albert. "Who are you?" she asked, and Sebastian got up from the couch.

"That's the man I saw at Mrs. Alexander's house," he said, but he was smiling.

"Oh, my God! Call the cops, Sebs!" his mother panicked.

"No, ma'am. No. I'm not a thief, and your son knows it," the man said and introduced him. "I just wanted to thank him. The cops let me go because I could prove that those things belonged to me. I wanted to thank your son. He was brave for trying to catch a thief and even braver for making things right for a random stranger. That takes real guts."

"Oh, alright," his mother breathed, holding her chest to calm down.

"Anyway, I got you something, kid," Albert said and produced two water guns. "Summer is coming, and these were my favorite things growing up. I know that kids only want video games these days, but I thought this was cool. You can play with a friend or try to catch more burglars with these."

They all laughed. "Thank you!" Sebastian said, unexpectedly more excited than ever.

"Nah, kid. Thank you," Albert said, nodded at Sebastian's mother, and bid them goodbye.

Sebastian had already gotten his phone out. "Elias! You won't believe this. Come over!"

They had the best time that summer with the water guns, and even Sebastian's mom and dad joined in, remembering a different era when children played outside.

What can we learn from this story?

• Teach your kids to be honorable people but still let them be kids. Sebastian was a good kid but often worried too much about being what his father expected. He should be allowed to make mistakes and make some mischief to learn.
• Some things are not what they seem, so it's important not to judge until you have the full context. Although Albert shouldn't have broken into the house, he wasn't a real thief. He only wanted what originally belonged to him.

Share this story with your friends. It might brighten their day and inspire them.

If you enjoyed this story, you might like this one about a boy who called the cops asking for aid with math, and the officers arrived to discover that he genuinely needed their help.

This piece is inspired by stories from the everyday lives of our readers and written by a professional writer. Any resemblance to actual names or locations is purely coincidental. All images are for illustration purposes only. Share your story with us; maybe it will change someone's life. If you would like to share your story, please send it to info@amomama.com.