Elderly Woman Hides From Bethany Home Invasion Suspect

An 18-year-old is in custody after Bethany police found him inside an elderly woman's home early Sunday morning. Investigators say Cedric Martin had a gun, but the victim's quick thinking kept her safe.

The 70-year-old victim woke up to a sound down the hallway from her bedroom and found an unfamiliar man standing inside her home. Police say she took the perfect steps to protect herself.

As soon as she saw a man in a hoodie in her house, the victim went into her bathroom and locked the door. Luckily, she had a landline phone installed there, and she called police.

“Hurry!” she can be heard telling the dispatcher. “Somebody’s just wandering around in my house with a flashlight.”

Within five minutes, police had the house surrounded, with the victim still on the line with dispatchers.

“Oh this makes me so mad,” she says on the call. “I’ve always felt so safe in my house.”

Lt. Angelo Orefice says the officers on scene “observed a window that was partially open that looked like the point of entry.”

Officers moved inside carefully, not knowing what they would find.

Orefice says, “He came out from around an office with his hands in the air and they took him into custody.”

Police say Martin had dropped his gun, leaving his hands empty, but his pockets were not. Investigators found multiple items from the home in his possession, including two buttons taken from the victim's wallet that carry a special meaning.

“These two buttons were from two family members that had died previously, so those were her mementos,” says Orefice.

Martin also had two work shirts that a neighbor tells News 9 were stolen from his car.

Police had already been investigating three auto burglaries in the area when the home invasion victim called.

“That’s why they caught him in the house, “Orefice explains, “because they were still looking for the auto burglar.”

Martin now faces multiple charges. While police would not go into much detail about his criminal history, they say Martin has had multiple run-ins with the law as a juvenile.