A Melbourne man has told of how he chased down and restrained a teenager after his home was broken into in the early hours of Monday morning.

Grant Brown and his children were asleep in their home in Hawthorn in the city’s inner east when he said he was woken by a noise inside his home about 3:25am.

He said he confronted two people on the ground floor, giving chase as the pair fled down the street.

A police car is parked on a dark residential street which has police tape and cones stretching across it.

Grant Brown says police arrived within minutes of him forcing the alleged offender to call triple-0 on the teenager’s own phone. (ABC News)

Mr Brown said he managed to grab hold of a 15-year-old boy.

He said he lifted up the boy’s shirt to check he did not have a weapon and, since he did not have time to grab his phone, told the teen to use his own mobile to call police.

He said the boy told him he was “just doing a job”.

“I actually feel sorry for them that that’s the situation they find themselves in,” he said.

He said police arrived within about five minutes and arrested the boy.

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Police said a second boy, aged 14, was also arrested.

A spokesperson said detectives were investigating whether the boys were also involved in an aggravated burglary in Elphin Grove, about a kilometre away, just prior to the incident.

Youth crime remains a contentious issue in Victoria, and the state recently recorded its highest ever crime levels, driven by thefts.

A picture taken from behind two police officers as they walk towards another bending to the ground in a laneway.

Grant Brown restrained a teenager in a nearby laneway after the 15-year-old allegedly broke into his Hawthorn home. (ABC News)

Premier Jacinta Allan thanked police for their quick response to the Hawthorn incident.

“No doubt the family has experienced a terrible experience that cannot be tolerated, and it won’t be tolerated,” Ms Allan said.

She said Victoria Police Chief Commissioner Mike Bush would “very soon” announce a new approach to crime prevention and community safety.

She said Commissioner Bush oversaw a transformation of New Zealand Police that resulted in a reduction in the country’s crime rate and a rise in community confidence.

A police officer in a yellow and blue high vis vest stands on a blue wheelie bin looking over a vine-covered fence near two men.

Police look for evidence down a Hawthorn laneway after the burglary at Grant Brown’s house. (ABC News)