CCTV captures alleged car thief at Brighton home before citizen’s arrest

An “infuriated” Brighton resident whose car was stolen has chased down the alleged offender and made a dramatic citizen’s arrest.

An “infuriated” resident has taken the state’s youth crime crisis into his own hands by chasing down a teen who allegedly stole his car.

Chris Riddell, 42, from Brighton helped plot the arrest of a 15-year-old boy who allegedly stole his Land Rover from his home about 3am on Sunday, having spotted him lurking near the scene of the crime hours later.

After finding his car about 8am on Sunday – thanks to a tracking device inside the vehicle – which was parked at an abandoned warehouse five minutes from his house, Mr Riddell waited for the alleged thief and a friend to reappear, thinking they had parked the car there to pick it up later.

“I decided after lunch that I had enough time so I went back around the corner and waited to see if anyone came,” Mr Riddell told the Herald Sun.

“I started following them, they pretended they hadn’t noticed me and I followed them in the car and then they just ran down the road. I dumped my car in the middle of someone’s driveway and went on a 2km run and I assure you I’m not fit for a 2km run. I was screaming down the phone at the police and to be fair, what felt like an eternity was only 20 minutes and they had seven units rock up. It was full-on.

“I was in thongs, shorts and a T-shirt as well. It’s about as Aussie as it gets, I was not ready for a run in the slightest.”

CCTV image of the alleged car thief in Brighton. Picture: Supplied

With the help of his neighbours, who also dialled Triple-0, police surrounded the 15-year-old and arrested him near the Kamesburgh gardens.

The boy was able to allegedly steal the car after finding the keys inside Mr Riddell’s wife’s vehicle.

In CCTV footage obtained by the Herald Sun the teenager could be seen hopping into the vehicle before reversing it out of the driveway and taking off.

He was charged with theft of motor vehicle and driving without a licence and will appear at a children’s court at a later date.

It comes days after 200 bayside residents attended a community meeting where they expressed their frustration at the crime rate in the area.

Earlier this year a 16-year-old was charged for allegedly mowing down cyclists along Beach Rd, with the Herald Sun also revealing that police had arrested an “extreme” group of 80 hardcore repeat youth offenders, more than 10 times each in the past year

Mr Riddell said the last few months had been frustrating for residents in the area.

“We’re in a really good area but it’s infuriating there’ve been aggravated burglaries and it’s been continuous around here,” he said.

Mr Riddell also said the alleged incident served as a “good reminder” about the importance of effective surveillance and tracking on devices.

“It’s easy to get this (tracking) technology now, it’s not that expensive for you to get it yourself,” he said.

“Because something like this happens and you’re quite relieved that you’ve got all this, it’s a good argument for having this stuff”.