Two frightened teenage girls hid in a bedroom and called 911 after a stranger knocked on their New Jersey door and forced his way in when they didn't answer, police said.
According to a police report obtained by NJ.com, the 34-year-old stranger, who has a history of burglary arrests, broke into the home on Old Stage Road in East Brunswick shortly after 12:30 p.m. Monday and started prowling around the house.
The girls, who were home alone, hid in a bedroom and dialed 911 on their cell phones when they heard him moving around the kitchen. Police arrived and found the home invader hiding in a closet on the first floor, according to NJ.com.
Police sprayed the suspect with pepper spray when he refused their directives to come out and show his hands, and he eventually complied with their orders.
The suspect, identified as Joseph Sicola of Spotswood, was charged with burglary and assisting arrest, reports NJ.com. It wasn't known if he had an attorney.
Sicola was arrested last October in his hometown in connection with a pattern of unsolved laundromat burglaries going back about a year. He also allegedly had heroin on him at the time, police said.
The sisters, ages 15 and 13, were not harmed.
