14-Year-Old Watching Niece Experiences Every Babysitter's Worst Nightmare
While society considers babysitting a "job with training wheels," it's not always as simple as tucking the kids in bed. A Montclair, California, babysitter was settling into her spot on the couch when she sensed something wasn’t right. Her instincts proved correct, and the teenager was forced to act under intense pressure to keep herself and the child she was watching out of harm's way.
Who To Call
Yesenia Barragan needed a last-minute babysitter for her four-year-old daughter Zoyee. She couldn’t reschedule an out-of-town work meeting, and she'd used up her sick leave to care for her little girl earlier in the year. So, she ran through her list of childcare contenders.
Not Just Anybody
As a working mom, Yesenia knew it was time to test out a regular babysitter. While it was tough to trust someone else with her toddler, work was a priority, and she needed to figure it out ASAP. Luckily, she had someone in mind.
Perfect Candidate
In fact, there was someone looking to kickstart her work experience she trusted way more than a stranger — her little sister Savannah Jones. Still, Yesenia had some reservations about her 14-year-old sister’s preparedness.
Within The Family
The idea for Savannah step up to the plate came from Maria Muratalla, Yesenia’s mother. She convinced her adult daughter that the teenager was ready and willing to help. Plus, if anything went wrong, Maria would be watching her cell-phone like a hawk, ready to swoop in.
Something Was Off
When Savannah’s mom Maria dropped her teenage daughter off to babysit at Yesenia’s house, they both noticed a car with tinted windows lingering nearby that wasn’t normally parked in area. Perhaps it belonged to a neighbor?
Mom Takes Her Leave
Fairly quickly it drifted from their minds as they said a quick goodbye so Savannah could get to work. Yesenia walked her through the household run-down, went over Zoyee’s routine, and who to contact in the event of an emergency. Then she dashed off to work.
So Far, So Good
With Mom finally gone, little Zoyee was quick to show her very cool teenage aunt all her favorite toys, as is custom. Next, Savannah jumped right into every babysitter’s staple — a Disney movie.
Who's There
As Savannah dutifully sang along with Zoyee to the Frozen soundtrack, she heard knocking at the front door. It was the middle of the afternoon, half-past three, so Savannah went to see if it was a postal worker or some door-to-door salesperson.
Behind The Door
Knowing better than to open the door for a stranger, Savannah looked through the peephole and saw a man in a hat. From what she could assess, this person held no clipboards or packages. He just stood there waiting for an answer.
Keep Quiet
Instincts told Savannah to ignore the knocking and let the stranger assume no one was home. Though, even though she’d retreated to the living room and several minutes passed, the man kept knocking, until suddenly, there was silence.
Situation Turns Serious
Savannah’s temporary relief vanished almost immediately when the door handle began to jiggle. The locked door was all that separated this persistent stranger from the teen and her niece. As her panic rose, the man furiously pounded on the door.
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Jumps Into Action
In a split-second decision, Savannah scooped up Zoyee and fled to Yesenia’s bedroom and into the en suite bathroom. Her mind was on the booming slams on the door that echoed down the hallway; she locked the door and heard her worst fear confirmed.
A Place To Hide
A cataclysmic crash resounded and continued footsteps told Savannah the intruder was inside the house and coming towards her hiding spot. She ushered the little girl behind the toilet tank and hurriedly told her to play a game where they must be very quiet.
Who Can Help?
Crouching in front of Zoyee’s spot behind the toilet, Savannah was too terrified to do anything but watch the locked bathroom door. That’s when she remembered her cellphone in her pocket, so she shakily attempted to message for help.
Typing Through Fear
The first message Maria received from her daughter Savannah just read, “I’m baby.” This obviously confused her, but before she could question, another message from the teen popped up on her screen: “He is inside mom he’s gonna hear me.”
Waiting In Limbo
Savannah and Zoyee listened to the man ransack each room, trying to stifle the sound of their breath, praying he wouldn’t try the bathroom door handle. Seconds passed with excruciating slowness. The teen hoped her mother had understood her messages and summoned help.
An Unfamiliar Voice
A man’s shouting interrupted the intruder’s movements. Confused, Savannah could sense something had changed but didn’t dare to move. A few minutes later, the person who had shouted identified himself as a neighbor that Maria had called to come over.
Quick Escape
After receiving the frantic texts from her daughter, Maria knew that even the police wouldn’t be able to arrive fast enough in this situation. She alerted the neighbor, who ran in and confronted the burglar, but the culprit fled on foot.
Age Is But A Number
Unfortunately, the suspect hasn’t yet been identified. Though, if not for Savannah’s quick thinking, the situation could have been much worse. Yesenia was proud of her little sister’s action, “She was very smart and brave; she did everything right.”
Acting In Emergency
Despite her young age, Savannah proved totally capable of watching her niece and handling an intensely terrifying situation with the level-headedness of someone beyond her years. Normally she might have frozen up in a situation like this, but just recently she'd heard about a Florida mother that pulled an extremely creative move to save her kids — with a pizza order.
The Order
Pizza makers first saw a normal request appear in the system: one large pepperoni pizza with garlic sauce for dunking. But then they checked the special request section of the order and stopped dead in their tracks. Was this a horrifying prank? It couldn't be. The order had come from a regular customer after all. Her name was Cheryl Treadway.
Proud Florida Mom
Cheryl Treadway couldn't have been happier with the life she carved out for herself. The 25-year-old mother of three lived with her boyfriend Ethan Nickerson in Florida, where the family enjoyed life under the warm sun nearly all year-round. Cheryl loved Ethan, but it was her kids who truly kept her going.
Three Beautiful Boys
Any parent would be proud to raise three beautiful sons like these. They were well-behaved and absolutely adored Cheryl. While they also loved their father, Ethan sadly struggled with drug addiction, which caused occasional outbursts and dangerously irrational behavior. Cheryl was always fearful that, at some point, the kids would find themselves stuck in the middle of a violent incident — and that's what happened.
A Struggling Addict
Cheryl knew Ethan loved his children more than anything, but he was in the throes of drug addiction, and the substances completely took his ability to process reality in a calm and rational way. One spring afternoon, Cheryl and Ethan got into a particularly heated argument while Ethan was under the influence.
A Life-Threatening Situation
The children were at school at the time the heated incident started unfolding, much to the relief of Cheryl. As the argument grew more intense, Ethan snatched Cheryl's phone out of her hand. His eyes were filled with inebriated rage, and Cheryl feared for her safety. Then, he grabbed a knife from the kitchen. Cheryl now knew the situation was life-threatening, and she needed to find a way out.
Picking Up The Kids
Even though Cheryl felt some relief that her children weren't there to see their father brandishing a knife at their mom, the school day was ending and she was going to have to scoop them up to bring them home. Ethan, knowing full-well if he let her take the drive alone she'd seek help, hopped in the car with her.
Worst Ride Ever
The car ride was the most awkwardly uncomfortable trip of Cheryl's life. She stared out at the road in a daze while Ethan sat next to her, glaring violently at her face. She wanted to cry out to passing cars but knew Ethan was ready to lash out at a moment's notice. The couple arrived to the school, picked up the kids, and returned home. The kids had no idea what was unfolding, but Cheryl soon started plotting the escape.
Plotting The Escape
To start, she worked with what she knew: Her kids were hungry after a full day at school, so she saw this as an opportunity to reach out to someone outside of her home. There was one food in particular both she and Ethan knew the kids loved, so she decided that would be the focal point of her plan.
Opting For The Hut
The couple's kids, like most children, loved pizza, and their favorite spot to grab a pie was Pizza Hut. They were regular customers, so Ethan didn't find it odd when Cheryl suggested they fire up the Pizza Hut app and order their usual meal. Ethan, however, kept a close watch on Cheryl as she ordered the food, ensuring she didn't pull a fast one and call somebody for help.
The Long Wait Begins
Cheryl finished punching in her order on the phone. The kids still were completely oblivious to the tension in the house, but Cheryl knew at any moment Ethan could easily change that with the flash of a knife. The mother anxiously waited for the restaurant to receive her order and send a delivery driver to the house.
A Strange Order
The Pizza Hut location the family always ordered from was one of the busiest restaurants in town, but because Cheryl got it so frequently, the workers all recognized her name when it came in, and they knew to put extra attention into ensuring her pizza was perfect. However, the place came to a sudden halt when they noticed something alarming on the order ticket.
An Alarming Message
Every ticket had an area where customers could write in messages in case they wanted their orders tailored to certain specifications. Employees were used to requests such as "extra pepperoni please" or "pizza well done." However, on Cheryl's ticket was written, "Please help. Get 911 to me. 911hostage help." This was something workers could not ignore.
Alerting The Police
Cindy Hamilton, a branch manager with 28 years of Pizza Hut experience under her belt, didn't hesitate at all when shown the ticket. She knew Cheryl well, and this was no prank. Immediately after seeing the message she phoned the authorities and gave them the address. Hamilton could only hope she rang them before something horrific happened.
Waiting A Lifetime
Cheryl's anxiety was through the roof. Would the Pizza Hut employees even pay attention to the words she wrote? Would they think it was a joke if they did? It seemed like a lifetime went by as she and Ethan sat in silence, but suddenly, a horde of police vehicles pulled up out front! Ethan, however, didn't see them yet, and Cheryl knew if he realized what was happening he might physically hurt any one of them.
Meticulous Planning Required
The police, having no idea what kind of situation they were walking into, couldn't just barge into the home with their guns blazing. But, they knew there was the possibility of kids involved based on what the Pizza Hut manager told them about the family, so their tactics required extreme precision. Suddenly, Cheryl burst out of the home in a frenzy.
Fleeing The Home
Cheryl flung open the front door of her home and sprinted towards the police cruisers with her youngest child in her arms! In her frenetic state she figured the youngest of her sons was the most helpless, and since she could only take one with her, she grabbed him and fled to the officers.
No Time To Waste
The first officer Cheryl reached was Lt. Ludden, and he immediately knew by her demeanor that the situation the unit was about to enter was dire. He did his best to calm the mother and ask for details. Once he learned there were still two children inside along with an armed man on drugs, he took immediate action. There was absolutely no time to spare.
Talking Down Ethan
Fortunately, Lt. Ludden had been in similar situations many times throughout his career. He knew how to deal with a situation that required a meticulous conversation to de-escalate a potentially lethal outcome. Cheryl stood by with a horrified look on her face as police spoke with Ethan. Then, 20 minutes later, a miracle happened.
Best Possible Outcome
Ethan not only put down the knife he was swinging around recklessly, but he actually walked out to the police units and gave himself up. It was the best possible ending the police hoped for. Cheryl and her kids, although quite shaken by everything, were finally safe. The incredible series of events was soon picked up by the news.
An Ingenious Decision
Ethan's face was quickly plastered all over the news, and Cindy Hamilton of Pizza Hut was recognized for her quick thinking. In food service, things only stay calm for so long, however. Only a few states away, another emergency situation was brewing. This time, it would be Taco Bell employee Sonja Frazier who was left to deal with the utterly devastating scene that unfolded right outside her drive-thru window.
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