Machete-wielding car thief stopped by member of public

A brave father has made a daring citizen’s arrest, tackling an alleged car thief armed with a machete in Sydney’s north.

Members of the public filmed a teenager being crash tackled as he attempted to run from the scene with an accomplice after crashing an allegedly stolen white Holden this afternoon.

The allegedly stolen white Holden slammed into a ute on Cilento Crescent in East Ryde, with so much force the ute was pushed to the opposite side of the road, damaging another parked car.

The brave bystander made his move as the males inside tried to make a get away on foot.

“He jumped in his car and met them around the corner and just wrestled him to the ground until the police came,” the owner of the ute, Peter Fernando told 9News.

The teen was questioned as he was lying face down on the ground underneath a shirtless man.

“Whose car is it? Do you know?” someone could be heard asking in the video.

"I don’t know one of my mates,” the detained teen replied.

Police arrived a short time later and put the teen in the back of a police car.

“It was pretty scary especially considering they were armed with machetes,” witness Daniel Bonaventura told 9News.

The machete, a laptop, shoes and a mobile phone were all collected as evidence.

The teen remains in police custody, while the second person is still on the run.