10-Year-Old Lock Haven Youth Recognized for Police Assistance

LOCK HAVEN – City police on Thursday paid a special thank you to a young hill district resident for his role in apprehending an intruder in the family residence.

Jude Mackenzie, 10, received a police-conducted whirlwind tour of the city police department, a special certificate of thanks and a city patch; next up was a visit to the Clinton County Com Center for a similar recognition.

Jude was the youngster who called 911 when he discovered a burglar inside the family home on the night of July 1. As relayed by his mother, Kelsa, Jude’s parents were upstairs in bed at 11 o’clock that night. Jude was still downstairs, watching YouTube when he heard a door slam, according to the police report.

The young Mackenzie discovered Allen Hurneman, 43, inside the family kitchen. Jude said he ran into the living room and hid under the couch. He had the presence of mind to call 911 and within minutes police responded and arrested Hurneman, who remains incarcerated since that time.

After police arrived Jude ran upstairs to tell his parents, “The police are here; there’s a burglar downstairs.” His mother said the fan was on in their bedroom and they did not hear the burglar come in but went downstairs to see police in the process of taking Hurneman into custody.

Jude will be entering the 5th grade at Dickey Elementary School later this month. He was a member of the Keystone Little League All-Star 8-10 team which won the Pennsylvania title and recently returned from the Mid-Atlantic championships in Rhode Island. The break-in incident occurred early in the Keystone playoff run but Jude said that night’s excitement did not affect his playoff performance.