A Dartmouth man who had his car stolen wound up placing a citizen’s arrest on the thief after driving past him on the road.

Ryan Cheverie heard his apartment door rattle Saturday night. The next morning, he saw his new Honda Civic was gone. Someone had reached into his apartment and taken the keys, and then the car.

I was like, really? You're wearing my shoes too? - Ryan Cheverie

“Call the cops, let them handle it. As far as I was concerned I was going to let them handle it,” the Nova Scotia man said Wednesday.

He picked up a rental car and drove home. And then he saw his stolen car driving toward him.

“I took it in my own hands without thinking about it,” he said.

He pulled a u-turn and chased the vehicle until it parked. Cheverie boxed it in.

“I opened the door, pulled him out, shoved him up against the wall over there a couple times,” he said.

Ryan Cheverie says he acted without thinking. (CBC)

Police quickly arrived. Cheverie got his car back, but found the thief had stolen his two-year-old daughter’s car seat and other things.

He did recover one odd item.

“I was like really? You're wearing my shoes too?” Cheverie said.

Halifax police Const. Pierre Bourdages said Cheverie was within his rights to make a citizen’s arrest.

“You can use as much force as necessary to affect the arrest, but you are also criminally responsible for any excessive force used during the arrest,” he said.

He cautioned a citizen’s arrest is only appropriated when the crime is serious, or against your property. You can also make one if you’re helping officers who are chasing a suspect.

Police arrested a 25-year-old woman and a 35-year-old man. Both face charges relating to the break-and-enter and theft.