'Cowardly act': Plumber attacked with brick, scissors as $20k worth of tools stolen

A Melbourne plumber is lucky to be alive after he was bashed with a brick and stabbed with scissors before thieves got away with $20,000 worth of his tools.

Patrick Reid, 61, woke to the sound of his truck being broken into and ran outside his home in Notting Hill, in Melbourne's south-east, just after 5am today.

He confronted three thieves who attempted to run from the scene but ended up being attacked himself.

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Speaking out after the attack, he said he was lucky to be alive.

"I could have been killed," he said.

Reid chased one of the offenders down Longbourne Avenue and managed to put him in a chokehold before two more returned.

The father-of-two was then hit on the head with a brick up to 10 times before being attacked with a pair of scissors.

"I was in my underpants up the street and I was bleeding a lot.

"I'm rattled to the bone.

"Unfit, lazy pricks - get a job."

The trio then fled the scene along with $20,000 worth of tools.

Reid returned home, where his elderly parents were asleep, and called the police.

He was taken to hospital with a broken nose and needed seven stitches.

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Detective Brooke Miller said the thieves were male and aged in their late teens to early 20s.

She called the attack "cowardly".

"No one should expect to be assaulted in that way, especially with a brick, it's a really cowardly act," Miller said.

"If they hit him in the wrong area, it honestly could have killed him.

"It's disgusting behaviour."

Police are urging the public to look out for used Milwaukee brand plumbing tools and to call police if a seller seems suspicious.

Detectives have released CCTV of the cars seen in the area at the time of the incident the occupants of which may be able to assist police with their enquires.