Footy great turned commentator Brian Taylor reveals the incredible step he took straight after his family were the victims of a home invasion

Brian Taylor has revealed how his family set a trap after they were the victims of a home invasion in Fitzroy. 

Taylor, 61, and his wife Tania were asleep while sons Harrison and Jesse were also in the home when they realised they had been robbed last weekend.

Harrison had been out and returned home at 11.30pm when the family learnt that they had fallen victim to a burglary.

'The next thing I know (mum) comes into my room … saying someone's stolen all our keys, dad's car's gone, my handbag's gone,' Harrison said on the Life of Brian podcast.

A Toyota Landcruiser Sahara belonging to Taylor, a footy great and commentator for Channel 7, was stolen as well as Jesse's wallet, a push bike and a number of sneakers.

But a fast-thinking Taylor enacted a plan to ambush the intruders, which led to a citizen's arrest.

'Everyone is up in bed and all of the keys to all of the cars have gone and only one car has physically gone and we had a sense they'd come back for all of the cars,' Taylor said.

'We hid in ambush at three o'clock in the morning, peering around corners waiting for someone to come back with the key fob and press unlock.

'It was a strange ute that pulled up in the street and hovered around there.'

While Tania was on the phone to the police, sons Harrison and Jesse chased the ute down the street and eventually made a citizen's arrest.

The man in question offered up an alibi and argued that he was not at the scene. 

'The amber lights went off and Jesse and I immediately went sprinting out to the car … Jesse legged it after the guy down Brunswick Street and I went down Johnston Street and we met up just after the 7-Eleven there,' he said.

'He did have an alibi and I don't think he's the guy, although I'm still suspicious.'

In a curious turn of events, Taylor got his car back the following day after finding it abandoned 600m down the road.

He is now questioning whether to leave his car keys on the table or take them into the bedroom. 

'The question is would we and should we leave all of our keys on the kitchen table so that if someone invades our privacy again, they can just take the keys and the cars and therefore they don't stab us.

'Or do we take the keys and put them in the bedroom with each individual and therefore they will come into the bedroom to steal the keys next time. It is a bit of a quandary.'

He added: 'Jesse had his cards used at 7-Eeleven across Melbourne. Lots of inconvenience. Credit cards, licences, probably got 20 or 30 different cards that need to be replaced. It's a big inconvenience but we move on and we all learn.'