This is the moment a man in his boxer shorts took on two hooded thieves who broke into his family home to snatch a set of keys before speeding away in his car.
CCTV footage appears to show two suspects forcing open the front door, then emerging four minutes later and unlocking the £20,000 VW Golf GT parked on the driveway.
Woken by the flashing lights, homeowner Tiago Moreira raced downstairs, grabbed the nearest object to hand — a stick normally used to open the loft — dashed outside and pulled open the passenger door.
But the driver floored the accelerator and the car screeched away.
Police today said there had been no arrests following the raid in Welling, in the early hours of Saturday.
The car was later found abandoned about seven miles away in Ilford.
Mr Moreira, 34, said he had been asleep in bed with wife Leonor Cabral as their seven-year-old son slept in another upstairs bedroom.
“I didn’t think really, I just picked up the metal stick we use to open the loft door,” he said.
The cleaning firm operations manager added: “The passenger looked surprised, and acted like he was trying to say something but he just let out this strange yelp as they drove off.”
His wife, 39, who works in childcare, said she feared for her husband’s safety as he gave chase.
The Portuguese couple explained that the car’s tracking system had led police to the vehicle in a secluded car park. Officers recovered it three hours later.
Ms Cabral said someone had been spotted by a neighbour acting suspiciously around a week ago.
“I think they have been watching the house,” she added. “You think it won’t happen to you but they could have hurt all of us.” A Met Police spokeswoman said police were called to the burglary in Edison Grove at about 2am.
“Officers attended and a 34-year-old man informed them that his car had been stolen by suspects who had entered his house and took his car keys before making off.
“The car was later found abandoned in Ilford and recovered by police.”
