LEHIGH ACRES, Fla. — A fugitive on the run tried to find a hiding spot in not one — but two homes in Lehigh Acres.

Inside one of them was a 16-year-old boy who came face to face with the wanted man.

ABC7 spoke to the teen who was home alone on Thursday when Mario Garcia, 39, pushed his way inside.

This all started when Garcia tried to hide from deputies in another Lehigh Acres home.

In Ring surveillance video at the home, you can hear Garcia banging on the door, but no one answers, so he tries the home next door.

According to the Lee County Sheriff’s Office (LCSO), Garcia — soaking wet after he swam across a canal to get away from deputies, ended up at the boy’s house.

He knocked on the door and then hid in the corner. When the boy opened the door, Garcia pushed his way inside.

For at least 20 minutes, the teen said he was pleading with Garcia, asking him to leave…but he wouldn’t.

Then the teens’ younger siblings come home from school.

He said he wanted to come up with a way to get Garcia out of the house.

“In the corner, the dude was hiding and he forced his way in and I’m like trying to close the door and he worms his way through,” the boy said. “I am terrified that he might, you know, kill me. After that I came up with this idea of hiding him in the attic because the attic is in the garage. Then he grabs me tightly and kisses me on the cheek. I find that kinda weird.”

While Garcia was alone in the garage, the teen and three siblings waited inside the home for deputies. The 16-year-old was armed with a BB gun.

Deputies got to the home minutes later and had to pepper spray Garcia out of the attic. He faces charges of resisting an officer, burglary, property damage/criminal mischief and probation violation.

Garcia had a warrant for his arrest after violating a no-contact order placed against him by his ex-girlfriend in 2022.

He is now in the Lee County Jail.