38-year old Nick, who prefers not to disclose his family name, returned from Greek Easter celebrations in the early hours of Sunday morning to find two men attempting to steal his car.
With his wife and two children present, Nick says he had no choice but to intervene.
"I grabbed the guy by the throat and literally just gave him a kick to the head like that he jumped in the back seat I ran over and as I did my wife screamed out gun and there was a guy with a gun on the footpath like that shaking."
The crime is part of a spate of carjackings and home invasions across Melbourne - some linked to the so-called Apex Gang also believed responsible for a wave of violence and robbery after the Moomba Festival in Melbourne's CBD in March.
It coincides with the introduction of legislation in Victoria exempting under-18's from some bail breaches.
The Police Association's Ron Iddles says it sends entirely the wrong message.
"There must be some consequences for your actions regardless if you're under 18 or not. This just sends a message to those under 18 that you can have total disregard for the law and there'll be no consequences for your actions."
John Pesutto is the Victorian opposition legal affairs spokesman.
He's calling on the government to reverse its decision.
"How can it be in the interests of community safety? How can it be in the interests of security to tell young offenders like Apex gang members that if you breech your bail it's not going to be an offence."
Victoria's Attorney General Martin Pakula says the amendment was introduced to counter a growing number of juveniles on remand.
He says serious offenders can still be remanded in custody.
"It does not affect in any way the ability for police to arrest a child if that's what's necessary and it doesn't affect in any way the ability of a court to remand a child in custody if that's what's appropriate."
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