A Perth father has fought back after he had been slashed with an axe by suspected thieves.

Johnny Dimascia, 50 says the blade came within inches of his face and credits his dog with saving his life.

Mr Dimascia believes he cheated death when he confronted a gang he says was trying to steal his car this morning at a semi-rural property in Millendon in the Swan Valley. He was slashed across the ribcage.

“I heard the ‘swoosh’ of the axe go past and if that hit me, I would have been instantly dead, that’s it,” he said.

“He was just swinging like you wouldn’t believe.”

He says a second man was armed with a machete and Mr Dimascia’s 12-year-old dog Peanuts fought him off.

Mr Dimascia then made a citizen’s arrest, stopping a teenage girl, while the two men got away.

Security footage captured the trio smashing through a fence of a nearby home and trying to break into cars just before Mr Dimascia as attacked.

Millendon residents said that this was not the first time a gang like this has gone on a crime spree through the area.

They say that thefts like this happen every couple of months or so, and they believe they come from nearby Midland.

Tonight, a 17-year-old girl and two men - aged 18 and 19 - are in custody.