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.

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 pol

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