WESTLAKE, Ohio — Police say a suburban Cleveland man had a friend pose as a threatening ex-convict during a test to see whether his teenagers would let a stranger into their home, prompting them to flee and call 911.

Westlake police say a prosecutor will consider potential child-endangering charges against the adults.

The father, Bilal Abdul Mani, told FOX8 that his plan went terribly wrong.

"It was a lesson that I was trying to teach that went bad," he said.

Police say the father described his 14- and 16-year-old sons' actions as an "epic fail." He wanted to see if his sons would obey a rule to never let anyone, other than four close relatives, in the house when he's not home. But the 14-year-old let the stranger inside.

But officers commended them for locking themselves in a bedroom, jumping out a window and running to a neighbor's home.

Officers say the stranger went to the door and was let in by the younger teen, and the stranger then said their father owed him money and threatened them.

"He's like if I start chopping up bodies in here, then I'm gonna be the bad guy. I just got out of jail two weeks ago," one of the panicked teens told police.

Police say the man was in contact by phone with the father, who resisted halting the charade.

"Knowing that they reacted the way they reacted, no, I would have did it another way," said Abdul Mani.

Abdul Mani, who is a single parent, said he wanted to "make sure that they did the right thing" when he wasn't home.

The Associated Press and PIX11 digital producer Alyssa Zauderer contributed to this report.