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A brave mother and daughter have scared off a pair of masked intruders during a terrifying home invasion in Melbourne's south-east. Two masked offenders, armed with a knife, forced their way into a home on Arnold Road in Brighton East about 1.30am yesterday, police allege. The noise woke the homeowner, 76-year-old Pat, who confronted the pair. READ MORE: Two dead after mine explosion near regional town One of the offenders, holding the knife, allegedly demanded Pat hand over her car keys. "I said 'no' and then I said 'get out of my house', and I repeated it," Pat said. "Next thing my daughter appeared ...and she started screaming." 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. The offenders remain on the run. Police continue to review CCTV footage and are appealing for anyone with information to come forward. 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. DOWNLOAD THE 9NEWS APP: Stay across all the latest in breaking news, sport, politics and the weather via our news app and get notifications sent straight to your smartphone. Available on the Apple App Store and Google Play.
