Burglary suspect speaks from jail

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. (KSAZ) - It was a story FOX 10 brought you last week; a 12-year-old was home alone when two men broke in.

That boy hid in the closet and frantically called 9-1-1.

He was discovered on the phone with dispatchers when one of the burglars opened the closet door.

They didn't stick around; both suspects ran from the home into the hands of responding officers.

Both men are still in jail and now one of them, Cole Lewallen is speaking out.

Lewallen says he had no idea there would be anyone inside the Scottsdale home when he and a friend decided to break in last Monday morning. He says he has three boys of his own, and he regrets everything he did but knows he has to pay for the crime.

He apologized to the family of the home he broke into last week.

"I just want to tell you that I'm so so sorry, that this was not supposed to happen, and I'm not this person, I'm not," said Cole Lewallen.

Lewallen said he and his friend Robbie Ray Johnson Jr. picked the house at random and decided to break in because they were both low on cash.

"I've been out of work for a few months, and the bills were piling up. I had no idea there would be a child anywhere near what was going on," he said.

He said he never saw the boy who was hiding during the burglary.

"Until my buddy told me that he had said there's a boy in the closet, and he ran, and I ran out the back door, I never saw a boy," said Lewallen.

Lewallen says as a parent himself he would never intentionally try and scare the boy.

"I have three boys of my own, you know to even think that there's a child that might have been scarred for life, or just scared period, I'm not a mean person, I'm not a monster," said Lewallen.

Lewallen and Johnson both have been locked up since the arrest. Both have prior arrests and are now facing multiple felony charges for the break-in.