'I Didn't Want To Die': California Girl, 12, Fights Off Intruder

WOODLAND, CA — A brave California girl wasn't about to let an intruder break into her home recently without a fight — and that's exactly what happened.

Nyletta Lincoln, 12, told KTXL-TV that when faced with danger Friday afternoon, she grabbed her baseball bat and single-handedly fought off an intruder. She was determined to protect herself while keeping the "bad guy" out of her home.

“I was really scared. But I just knew, I knew he couldn’t come into the house and I knew just to protect my own house. I didn’t want to die. I didn’t want him stealing anything in my house. So, I protected it,” Lincoln explained to the TV station.

Lincoln, who was home alone at the time, lives in Woodland, California, a city northwest of Sacramento. According to the middle schooler, she was listening to her headphones around noon when she heard the sound of someone trying to break into her home.

“I grabbed my baseball bat and I walked into my living room and saw the lock was busted and he was trying to get in,” she described. “He said ‘Let me in.’ And I yelled ‘No!’ And I kicked the door into his face."

According to the Woodland Police Department, officers quickly responded Lincoln's home and saw a man identified as Wilfredo Iraheta, a 49-year-old Woodland resident, using a variety of tools in an attempt to get inside the front door.

Police wasted no time and arrested Iraheta, charging him with attempted burglary and prowling.

Just two hours before police said Iraheta tried to break into Lincoln's home, an officer was flagged down on Beamer Street by a resident who said someone had been in their backyard earlier in the day. The officer checked the area but saw no one suspicious.

It's not clear if Iraheta was the person that neighbor saw in their back yard. However, officers said he has a similar description to a suspect from another burglary that occurred in the area early last week.

"Woodland police officers will continue to follow-up to see if the two incidents are related," the department said in a Facebook post.