In the early hours of the morning, two masked intruders scaled a fence on Arnold Road in Brighton East, gaining entry to a home by forcing open a dead-bolted back door at approximately 1:30 a.m.

The commotion roused the home’s resident, 76-year-old Pat, who bravely confronted the burglars.

One of the intruders, brandishing a knife, demanded that Pat surrender her car keys.

“I refused and told them to leave my house,” Pat recounted. “I kept repeating myself.”

At that moment, Pat’s daughter entered the scene, her screams filling the room.

The offenders fled empty-handed after Pat’s daughter, 54, called triple zero.

The women were not physically injured during the incident.

Police were on scene within minutes, where a police dog was able to detect a track leading officers north of Arnold Road.

A getaway vehicle, described as a white 4WD, had been for the offenders near the scene, according to police.

A family of six frantically barricaded themselves inside as two intruders tried to kick down the door, waving a knife at them, before fleeing in a white Toyota Prado.

The offenders remain on the run.

Police continue to review CCTV footage of the Brighton East incident and are appealing for anyone with information to come forward.

“The community is getting sick and tired of not feeling safe in their own home,” Detective Sergeant Jason Caruana said.

“Go out and get a job and do something good for the community.”

In response to a rise in burglaries and car thefts across Victoria, police have a dedicated operation targeting neighbourhood crime.

On top of standard patrols, extra police resources including the dog squad, Public Order Response and police AirWing are deployed from dawn to dusk to prevent and respond to burglaries and car thefts, police said.

As a result of the operation, police have arrested 671 burglars and car thieves almost 1683 times in the 12 months to September 2025.