EL CAJON -- An 8-year-old girl fought off a would be home invader early Sunday morning when she awoke to see an unknown man standing in the room she shares with her 6-year-old brother. 
 
 The young girl struck the suspect, causing him to flee the scene. The girl told 10News she hit the man by using a self-defense Kung-Fu move she had learned in a class. The move, called the “Cheetah Paw,” involves a partially closed hand strike. You curl your fingers in on themselves, tuck your thumb against the sides of your hand and strike with your knuckles. 
 
 The El Cajon Police Department responded to the condo on the 1300 block of Hawk Lane at around 4 a.m. Sunday. Officers conducted a search of the area with a police K-9 but were unable to locate the suspect. As of Sunday evening he was still at large. 
 
 The suspect was described as a man with tanned skin, dark "fluffy" hair and a thin build. He had a strong dirty odor and was wearing dark clothing. 
 
 Police say the suspect entered the home by removing a screen from an open window. San Diego County residents are reminded to secure doors and windows while the are sleeping or not at home. 
 
 Anyone with information related to the case should call the El Cajon Police Department at 619-579-3311. ||||| NBC 7's Vanessa Herrera spoke with a neighbor of the young victim who said that her friends was "really brave." (Published Monday, July 11, 2016) 
 
 Friend of Girl Who Used Kung Fu to Fight Off Prowler Speaks Out 
 
 It’s called the Cheetah Paw. 
 
 "You go like this — Ha!" said an 8-year-old El Cajon, California, girl as she throws a punch with a slightly closed fist. 
 
 The girl credits the martial arts move, which she said she recently learned in class, with keeping her from being kidnapped when a man broke into her San Diego County home while she was sleeping over the weekend. 
 
 8-Year-Old Girl Uses Kung Fu to Fight Off Prowler The suspect tried to grab the girl from her bed in El Cajon. NBC 7’s Omari Fleming reports. (Published Sunday, July 10, 2016) 
 
 The suspect removed a ground floor window screen of the condo in the 1300 block of Hawk Lane around 4 a.m. Sunday morning, El Cajon Police Lieutenant Rob Ransweiler said. 
 
 He walked upstairs to the second floor bedroom the girl shared with her 6-year-old brother, who was also asleep, Ranswiler said. 
 
 The man began to carry her down the stairs, and while half-awake she silently used the Cheetah Paw to escape her captor's clutches. 
 
 When asked how she decided to use the move, she responded: “Because it hurt him.” 
 
 After the Kung Fu punch to the neck, the girl says the man put her down and left the home before she could run to tell her parents what had happened. 
 
 Her parents said they were terrified thinking they were unaware an intruder was lurking in their kids' bedroom. 
 
 “I didn’t even know. I laid asleep while all this was happening," her mother said. 
 
 The family has since installed a window alarm system and surveillance cameras to protect their family. 
 
 “It hasn't motivated me enough to want to get a gun, but it made me think about it," she said. "There’s so much to think about after something like this happens." 
 
 Neither of the children appeared to be physically hurt, and nothing seemed to have been taken from the home. 
 
 The suspect was described as tan with dark, “fluffy” hair and a slim build, 5-foot-8 to 5-foot-10 inches tall with a bad odor. He was wearing dark clothing and a backpack. 
 
 Lt. Ransweiler says they will interview the victim again to get a better description of the suspect and hopefully they will be able to get a sketch made of him. 
 
 Shahla Malikyer, who has been living in the area for 20 years, says neighbors look out for one another. 
 
 "Sometimes if I see a strange face or (someone) suspicious I call the police," she said. 
 
 The suspect may have tried to enter another home but that window was locked. A hand smear was left behind, so police will try to run fingerprints from it to catch the man. 
 
 El Cajon officers searched for the suspect with a police dog, but were unable to locate him. 
 
 Officers are patrolling the area and using law enforcement databases to try to identify him. ||||| An 8-year-old girl packed a Kung Fu punch that frightened off a would-be home invader Sunday in California.When the girl found the man in the room she shares with her 6-year-old brother, she used a self-defense move on him called the "Cheetah Paw." KGTV reports the partially-closed hand strike involves curling your fingers in on themselves, tucking your thumb against the sides of your hand and striking with your knuckles.The girl tells KGTV she woke up in the suspect's arms as he carried her downstairs. That's when she used the move on his neck. He dropped her and ran away.The family called police around 4am, but the suspect fled. Authorities believe he got in by removing a screen from an open window.The suspect was described as a man with tanned skin, dark "fluffy" hair and a thin build. He had a strong dirty odor and was wearing dark clothing.Anyone with information related to the case should call the El Cajon Police Department at 619-579-3311. ||||| Girl fights off intruder who snatched her from her bed News Girl fights off intruder who snatched her from her bed Police in Southern California are searching for a man who broke into a home and tried to kidnap a little girl who fought him off with a Kung Fu move. 
 
 - Police in Southern California are searching for a man who broke into a home and tried to kidnap a little girl who fought him off with a Kung Fu move. 
 
 Police say the man broke in through a window of a home in El Cajon, early Sunday morning. 
 
 He made his way upstairs and grabbed the eight-year old girl while she was sleeping. 
 
 He tried to drag her down the stairs while her parents slept. 
 
 The little girl had trained in martial arts for self defense and used what police are calling a Kung Fu pressure move on his neck and then ran to her parents for help. 
 
 Investigators say, the intruder might be a homeless man. The girl said he "smelled like garbage." 
 
 Police used a k-9 to try and track him, but didn't find him.
– A would-be kidnapper got more than he bargained for after snatching a girl from her bed Sunday. Authorities say a man broke into a home in El Cajon, Calif., through an unlocked window, then grabbed an 8-year-old girl from her upstairs bedroom. Unbeknownst to her attacker, the girl knew kung fu. She tells KGTV she awoke in the man's arms as he carried her downstairs and punched him in the neck with what's known as the leopard or cheetah paw. "It hurt him," the girl tells NBC San Diego. The man dropped the girl and fled as she ran to get her parents, per KTRK. Authorities arrived around 4am and searched the surrounding area with police dogs but didn't find the suspect, who "smelled like garbage" and may have been homeless, per KTVU. He's described as 5-foot-8 to 5-foot-10, with tanned skin and dark "fluffy" hair. Police plan to run fingerprints from a hand smear on the window of a neighboring home.