JACKSONVILLE, Fla. -- Police are searching for two burglars after a Jacksonville man recently got a phone call no parent wants to get from their child.
Todd Orlando, the principal at Bishop Kenny High School, said his 12-year-old daughter called him for help when she was home alone and two men were breaking into their St. Nicholas house, reported WJXT-TV in Jacksonville.
"I picked up the phone and she said, 'Daddy, I think someone's trying to get in the house and they're banging on the door, ringing the door bell.' So, I said, 'I'll be right there,'" Orlando said.
The high school principal works less than 2 miles from his home but said those 2 miles seemed more like 100 that day.
"It was pretty surreal, like a movie," Orlando said. "She was really shaken and scared. I was getting worried and alarmed when she didn't answer the phone. So, each mile I got closer, it got a little more intense for me."
His daughter ran to her bedroom and hid in the bathroom while two burglars rummaged through the home.
"When I turned the corner and saw a car there that wasn't mine, then the all the adrenaline kicked in," Orlando said.
As soon as he pulled up to his driveway, he said he saw the burglars moving his big-screen TV into their car.
Worried his daughter might be in the back of their car, Orlando said he pulled his car in front theirs and tried to block them in.
"I actually pulled in on them as they were leaving and tried to stop them because I didn't know if my daughter was in the car," Orlando said. "So, I pulled my car in front of them and they backed up and went across my front yard. I ran after them and had my hand on the car door trying to stop them in some way, not really thinking clearly but in dad mode."
The burglars took off with the TV, some jewelry and a digital camera.
Twenty-four hours after the burglary, Orlando said he has done nothing but replay the scenario in his head and what could have happened.
He said he's just glad his worst nightmare didn't come to life.
"That stuff can be replaced. I'm just happy my daughter is OK," Orlando said.
Police are investigating the incident.
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