LYNNWOOD, Wash. -- A mystery man preying on women in Snohomish County by breaking into their bedrooms is behind bars, thanks to the father of his latest young victim.

A 10-year-old girl woke up in her bed Sunday night and found a stranger stroking her hair. She screamed.

"And I shoved him off the bed," said the girl, whose family asked that her name not be used.

The scream yanked the girl's dad out of bed. Gary Cox rushed into his daughter's room and confronted the intruder in the hallway of his home. The man took off running down the hallway and Cox followed.

Cox grabbed him and the two men fought, all the while the intruder was trying to get away.

"We fought our way down the stairs," he said. "He was just yelling 'get off of me, let me go.' I wasn't on him. He was fighting and I was fighting."

The intruder eventually managed to flee and Cox called 911. A police dog tracked down Joseph Habte-Egzy, a Meadowdale High School senior and football player, just minutes later.

Police have been searching for a man who has been breaking into homes in the neighborhood since 2005, and they believe Habte-Egzy is their man. They say he has confessed to several break-ins.

The high school senior was just 15 years old when the break-ins started.

Detectives say the intruder chose houses that were not locked. At least 16 women ranging in age from 10 to 45 woke up to see someone sitting or lying on their bed, sometimes exposing himself or even touching them.

"It would have been much worse emotionally for us to think that this guy was still out there somewhere," Cox said.

Habte-Egzy faces nine charges ranging from burglary to indecent liberties. He is being held on $1 million bond.