Woman: Barking scared burglar

COEUR d'ALENE - A barking dog is being credited with frightening a burglar from a home where a woman was sleeping in a bedroom with her baby.

According to a Coeur d'Alene police report, the woman returned to her home in the 4900 block of N. Atlantic Drive about 3 p.m. Thursday. She said she placed a laptop near the couch in the living room, and took her baby into a back room for a nap.

She told police she thought she left the front door unlocked, and was awakened at one point by her dog's barking.

"She shushed the dog but did not get up to see what he was barking at," the report said.

When she did go out to the living room about 4 p.m., the laptop, valued at $1,300, was missing. She said she believed her dog must have frightened the burglar away.

Another burglary in the 1500 block of E. Nettleton Gulch Road was reported Thursday.

The victim said someone entered the house during the day and took three remote-controlled cars and one remote-controlled boat valued at more than $10,000. He told police he has been building the cars and boat as a hobby.

Police said $105 in cash was taken, but other small expensive items were left behind.

Police followed footprints in the snow that led behind the house to a back door, where the burglar likely entered the home.

Investigations continue into both burglaries.