An 11-year-old Connecticut girl is currently the talk of the town after helping police officers catch a criminal that had been burglarizing homes in her neighborhood.
Rebecca DePietro drew the sketch of the criminal after police officers visited her home, which had recently been broken into. When the officers arrived at her home, they asked if her family had seen anyone suspicious.
According to NYMAG, DePietro told the officers she had seen someone and could draw them a picture of the person.
When asked about her drawing, DePietro said, “It wasn’t like the best picture, it was just a head and some legs and I thought oh he’s probably just going to crumple it up and throw it out.”
Even though DePietro didn’t think much about her drawing, the police thought it was a very important clue. The officers superimposed the picture and matched it up with a picture of the suspect.
According to the police, DePietro’s picture helped them catch the suspect who ended up confessing to 10 burglaries in the area, including the DePietro home.
“It was kind of like payback like you did this and my daughter’s drawing kind of resolved the issue,” Paul DePietro said.
In addition to helping them make an arrest, police say the picture also helped them recover some of the items that the suspect stole. The items were still in his possession when they found him.
“For us to take that sketch and match it up, it was remarkable,” Stratford Police Chief Patrick Ridehour said. “Maybe she’s part of our next generation of detectives.
Rebecca DePietro was honored for her role in helping track down the burglar on Thursday night. She gave a lot of credit to her art teacher but also said she isn’t sure she wants to be a police sketch artist when she grows up.
