Four teenage burglars had a bad day in Burien on Thursday. First the owner of the house they were burglarizing came home and chased them out of his house at gunpoint. Then police caught two of the burglars within minutes. Finally, the last two were caught after the area was flooded with Sheriff's deputies, Burien officers, and the sheriff's Guardian One helicopter.

The incident began when a man returned to his home in the 16400 block of Ambaum Blvd S. (Burien) after walking his dog. He found a burglar in his kitchen. As the suspect ran for the front door, his three co-conspirators coming from various areas of the house joined him. The homeowner retrieved his handgun and gave chase.

A passerby saw the fleeing felons and pointed out the direction they fled to the homeowner and arriving deputies. Plain-clothes detectives coming into the area spotted two of the four and they were promptly arrested.

During the search for the remaining suspects, the Sheriff's Office received a call from a man in Mt. Vernon who said his teenage son had just called him and breathlessly related: "The cops are looking for me...and they've got a helicopter!"

Finally, workers at a nearby townhouse spotted the last two suspects skulking along a fence line. Deputies converged and took them into custody without incident.

The suspects, ages 14, 14, 16, and 17, were from Burien, Mill Creek, and Seattle, respectively. All were booked into the Youth Service Center ("Juvenile Hall") for Investigation of Burglary.

KIRO-TV Channel 7 News reported Gregory Heights Elementary was locked down briefly while police searched for the suspects.