EAST LIVERPOOL - The city police chief said the quick thinking of a dispatcher and the timely arrival of officers resulted in the capture of a burglary suspect.

The incident started at 12:18 a.m. Wednesday with a call to the East Liverpool Police Department from Belinda S. Smith, 26, of 2406 St. Clair Ave.

"She (Smith) told our dispatcher that someone was trying to get inside her home," East Liverpool Police Chief Mike McVay said.

The dispatcher, Stephanie Kimbrew, kept Smith on the phone while officers were quickly dispatched to the scene. According to McVay, Kimbrew could hear the suspect breaking through the back door and into the home.

"The dispatcher knew the officers would be there soon, so she told her (Smith) to run out the front door knowing the suspect was entering from the back door," McVay said.

Just as Smith was making her way quickly out of the home, officer Kelsey Hedrick arrived on the scene.

Hedrick said he saw the victim standing on her porch with a large knife in her hand, visibly shaking. She told Hedrick that the man was still inside her house.

As Hedrick was about to enter the home, Randy A. Martin, 23, of Broadway Avenue in Wellsville, came out.

Martin was taken off the porch and placed into custody According to the preliminary report, Smith said she did not know the suspect.

Later on Wednesday, Martin appeared in East Liverpool Municipal Court and a cash/surety or 10 percent bond in the case was set at $100,000.

Martin will appear in court again on Dec. 30 for a preliminary hearing on the felony burglary charge.