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If you touch an elf on the shelf after he has been named and adopted, rumours whisper that you can't touch it, or he will ruin your Christmas. Well, it almost happened---when Isabel LaPeruta from New Jersey believed it!

Isabel touched the elf, and then suddenly panicked and tried to call her father to help her, dialling 911 by mistake.

Isabella's mother Lynanne had been sleeping in her room when Isabella had knocked down the elf with her ball by mistake. That made the seven-year-old believe that Santa may not visit her house, as the rules say that by touching the elf, you smoke the Christmas magic away.

Isabella called 911 and introduced herself. The operator was surprised and asked her: "Hi, Isabella. Why are you calling 911?"

Isabella realised her mistake and panicked again. She shouted: "Don't come to my house!"

"[I thought] it was an emergency," said Isabella later, according to Today. "I was very nervous."

But it made the officials come immediately, of course. The operator immediately dispatched a police officer, Bridge Police Lt. Joseph Mandola.

"The officer got there and the little girl came out and was trying to shush him away and saying, 'you can go now,'" reports ABC News.

Isabella's nervous reaction woke up her mother immediately. Mandola just bent down to calm her down and assure her that everything was OK.

He radioed back to headquarters: "Isabella apologized. She touched the Elf on a Shelf. She won't call 911 again," he told his headquarters. "In her mind, she did right, and it was fine with us."

Finally, the 911 call made things right, not wrong. One tradition in the Old Bridge town directs members of the fire department to dress up as Santa Claus and drive around the town. On Tuesday night, the police and fire departments made a special visit to Isabella's house.

"Santa went right to the door and said, 'Everything is OK, don't worry about the elf,'" said Mandola.

Isabel was thrilled. "[Santa] gave me another chance," she said.

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