Melbourne man's close call with armed e-bike thief

Luke Hines said he never would have imagined falling victim to a group of thieves while on his way to work.

The South Yarra local pulled out of the driveway to his apartment block's underground garage on Saturday morning and noticed two youths lingering outside the roller door.

But while they were waiting outside, a third person had already snuck past the roller door and into the garage, armed with a metal bar and bolt cutters.

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"I noticed some people were lingering around and that gave me a really bad feeling - my gut said, 'go back now,'" he told Today.

Luke said the offender heard him coming and escaped the space mere seconds before he arrived.

But the intruder had other plans and Luke didn't realise he placed a piece of cardboard over the garage door sensor before fleeing.

"At that point I head to work, but he comes back almost straight away and he takes my e-bike," he said.

"I'm in a secure building and the bike was dead bolted with an industrial strength bolt and they were still prepared to cut through."

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Luke reported the theft to police, but is reminding everyone to be vigilant about being targeted by these people.

"I'm a 6"3 guy who could probably handle myself if it came to that, but what happens if the young mum with the baby came downstairs at that very moment?" he said.

"It is a really timely reminder to watch out and be aware."

See what else Luke had to say in the video above