LYNN, Mass. (WHDH) -- A Lynn boy scared off an intruder in his mother’s bedroom Tuesday morning.

“I chased him out the house. I stand up like this and,” said Dimitrios Rosario.

Dimitrios Rosario sleeps with his mom because he's afraid of the dark.

But early Tuesday morning, he was fearless when an intruder broke into their Lynn home.

“I woke up and heard my mom screaming,” Dimitrios said.

“There was a black shadow standing next to the bureau and he was basically just trifling through and opening up my jewelry box,” said Cindy-Lou Bartlett.

“Stand up on mom’s bed went in that dude’s face and said, ‘you get out,’” Dimitrios said.

It was just after 5 in the morning. Cindy-Lou Bartlett was startled by a figure in her room.

“He kept rustling with his hands like he had weapon in hand,” Bartlett said.

But her 12-year-old acted fast and fashioned his own weapon.

“He was very brave he grabbed curtain rod took them apart and like swords and the kid had run out back door,” Bartlett said.

“And then he ran out the house so I followed him and then he opened this back door. He went out that door,” said Dimitrios.

Police told the family the 18-year-old Victor Martinez got in the house by climbing onto a bucket and slipping through an opened window.

Police arrested him at a third floor apartment two blocks away.

“It's disgusting to me because I'm trying to raise a man and you're 18 years old breaking into our house making us feel unsafe,” Bartlett said.

What Cindy-Lou need not fear is how the middle schooler will turn out.

His most prized possession is a Boston Police pin because when he grows up, he wants to continue to keep others safe.

“I know that's my house and I shouldn't be afraid,” Dimitrios said.

The suspect is being held without bail pending a dangerousness hearing om Friday.