Quick-thinking mum helps police catch wanted man

A brave mother has helped police swoop on a man wanted over a double stabbing in Melbourne’s south-east.

Damen Stephens, 43, allegedly set his mother's Bentleigh house on fire and stabbed two strangers in a St Kilda bar on Saturday, sparking a weekend manhunt.

CCTV captured Mr Stephens wandering around at a service station in Cheltenham this morning.

Unbeknownst to him, a woman in a Ford Territory with her two young children was watching him.

She was filling up at a bowser, and kept a close eye on him as he strode away.

“As he walked towards me, he had dart(ing) eyes, was cagey and really stuck out to me,” the woman, who cannot be identified, told 9NEWS.

What made her even more suspicious was his interaction with a postman nearby.

“I saw him go up to the postman and ask where Chesterville Road was and he walked the opposite direction,” she said.

The woman decided to follow Mr Stephens in her car, talking to police on her loud speaker as she tracked his movements for about 10 minutes.

9NEWS understands police swooped on the accused 30 minutes later at a housing support service on Chesterville Road.

Mr Stephens spent the day answering questions in custody at the Bayside Police Station.

He has since been charged with up to 18 offences including arson, intentionally causing serious injury, assault and stalking. 

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