Father Stumbles Upon Burglar; 9-Year-Old Dials 911

A routine morning turned violent for Dennis Gilmore and his daughter when they discovered a burglar inside their home, but both emerged as heroes as the father detained the burglar and the girl called 911 for help, police said Wednesday.

Gilmore, a 47-year-old self-employed electrician, had returned home from driving his 14-year-old son to soccer practice three blocks away about 6:30 a.m. when he saw a bicycle and a saxophone near the front door and the garage door open, Police Lt. Dan Johnson said.

The puzzled father ran upstairs to check on his 9-year-old daughter, Kira, and bumped into a stranger who “was looking for property to steal,” Johnson said.

Gilmore said he surprised the burglar and asked him “politely” what he was doing in the house. The stranger, whom Gilmore had spotted a block away while taking his son to practice, then shoved the homeowner out of the way.

A scuffle erupted and both men fell three feet down a flight of stairs to the living room and continued fighting, which awakened Kira from her sleep.

“I heard a big crash right when they landed,” the girl said. “I rushed to the balcony and I saw my dad wrestling with this guy. I didn’t know what to do, so I went into my brother’s room and thought for a minute. Then my dad said to call 911.”

Kira stayed on the phone with a dispatcher until police arrived at the home in the 6800 block of Sunview Drive, Johnson said.

“You could hear her little lips trembling,” Johnson said.

Officers arrested Milo Alfirvic, 25, of Huntington Beach on suspicion of burglary and robbery. Alfirvic is also wanted in connection with another Huntington Beach burglary that occurred in September, Johnson said. Fingerprints taken at the scene of the September incident matched Alfirvic, investigators said.

As police led the burglar away, Kira said she ran to give her father “a big kiss and hug.”

“And then I had my breakfast--Fruit Loops,” the girl said.

Police praised the actions of the father-and-daughter team Wednesday, calling them “heroes”

No one was seriously injured in the incident, police said.

Alfirvic is being held at the Orange County Jail in lieu of $50,000 bail, police said.