A Darwin police officer wearing only his underwear has chased down and arrested two thieves who trespassed on his property overnight.

The duo stole property from the neighbours of Senior Sergeant Mark Stringer at about 3am on Monday morning.

"Senior Sergeant Stringer was off duty but diligently got up and gave chase in his nightwear. He apprehended two offenders around the corner," duty superintendent Louise Jorgensen posted on Facebook.

"Despite being embarrassed about his attire he professionally handed them into the custody of his members on duty. All stolen property was recovered."

It was a busy night for police in Darwin, with several instances of property offences in the northern suburbs, a robbery of a service station in Malak, and 11 reports of smashed windscreens at the Casuarina Shopping Centre as of 6am on Monday, for which five people are in custody and helping police with their inquiries.

Five youths were also arrested at about 4am over a break-in at a home in Tiwi, where a bag, wallet, and keys were stolen.

And on Sunday morning, Dept Supt Jorgensen said three thieves were arrested by police while cooking stolen pork chops.

She said they had been targeting cars and outside fridges at properties in Leanyer and Wanguri over the weekend, and allegedly stole thousands of dollars worth of property, including cameras, bags, watches, iPods, shoes, tools and food - including the pork chops.