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A Puyallup, Wash., woman who hid in an upstairs closet and whispered to a 911 dispatcher while intruders forced their way into her home helped police catch a mother and son later tied to a string of area burglaries, according to KING 5 News.

Carolyn Snyder was alone in her home on the morning of Nov. 4, 2010, when a man knocked at her door, KING 5 reported. When she did not answer, police said, the man broke in through the back door. Snyder ran upstairs, shut herself in a closet and dialed 911.

Puyallup police dispatcher Dorene Strange took the call, which ran about eight minutes. On the recording, Snyder speaks in a low whisper as Strange presses for her exact location, keeps her on the line and relays details to officers heading to the house. Strange stayed with Snyder until officers had searched the home and told her the intruders were in custody.

Officers arrested Andrew Michael Hoffman, 24, and his mother, Mali Hawkins, 40, at the scene, according to KING 5. Police said one of the suspects was caught carrying Snyder's flat-screen television out of the house. Investigators reported finding items believed to be stolen from other break-ins inside the car the pair had used.

Puyallup police said the two might be responsible for as many as 20 residential burglaries in the area over the previous month. Hoffman told an arresting officer he had been breaking into homes for 14 years, police said. "We've had a good spike in residential burglaries for us, which is unusual," Puyallup police Capt. Scott Engle told KING 5.

Hoffman and Hawkins pleaded not guilty to criminal charges in Pierce County court the following day, KING 5 reported.

Snyder and Strange met at the Puyallup Police Department the day after the break-in. "I felt she was there holding my hand," Snyder said of the dispatcher, according to KING 5. "It's the only reason I stayed sane." Strange credited the caller in turn: "It could have turned out really bad, but it didn't because she was so calm."