DeKalb family says group broke into home while teen was alone inside

DEKALB COUNTY, Ga. - A family said they won’t rest easy until the people who broke into their home are off the street. 

They said their teenage son was inside hiding while the group rummaged through the home.

"The boldness and the brazenness. How dare you," The mother said. 

A DeKalb County family is still unnerved after they say several people broke into their home while a young teen was inside.

"Minutes before everything happened someone was banging on the wall of the AC unit. I watched them do it for a minute then I told them to stop. They walked to the hill and there were two others there," the teenage boy said.

The mother and son didn’t want to reveal names because the group responsible is still on the run.

This woman said it started with someone caught on surveillance camera.

"The video we have is the young man ringing the doorbell. My husband answered through the ring and said, ‘Can I help you?’ He said, ‘Can I cut your grass?’ and my husband said, ‘Nah, we have that," the woman said. 

"I was on the couch when it happened. It made me jump. I looked back to see what it was and I see the hammer coming through the window," the boy said. 

The teen was inside alone when everything happened. It happened around 8 p.m. Monday at a home in the Rogers Crossing neighborhood.

"By the third hit of the hammer, I realized I had to go upstairs to my room and lock the door and hope they don’t come in," the boy said.

He said the intruders scoured the house from top to bottom.

"They tried to push down my door but I pushed back and locked it. They tried pushing through again and when they realized it was locked they didn’t try again," the boy said.

"If you aren’t going to be safe anywhere else, your home should be the one place," the mom said. 

This mother said they’ve taken extra steps to ensure safety.

"Even now we put burglar bars because now we are trying to assure him the house is safe for him to be here by himself," the woman said. 

The homeowner said the group got away with three laptops.

DeKalb County police urges anyone with information to come forward.

"I hope they find them and they know this isn’t OK. It’s not ok to go into people’s homes and take things that they worked hard for," the woman said.

The family is offering a reward to anyone with information that leads to an arrest in the case.