A FEISTY Brisbane woman got the better of a brazen burglar by giving him a stern talking to before he gave her computer back and apologised.

Sarah Shands, 25, was living at East Brisbane when she woke to her puppy Otis Ray growling at 5.45am one day last month.

''He doesn't usually do that but he really burred up and was brave,'' she said.

Dressed only in a top and underwear, Ms Shands found the intruder in her house with her laptop and car keys.

''I said, 'What are you doing? Give me my stuff back!' and he just handed it over and said, 'Oh, sorry.' I said, `What else did you take? Show me your pockets!'''

The thief told her he didn't have anything else but did as he was told to turn out his pockets when confronted by the angry radio producer.

''He said he didn't have anything else, that he didn't want to do it'', before he walked out of the house and jumped over the back fence.

''If he pulled a knife or anything of course I would just walk away and let him take it. But you've got to stand up.''

for yourself.

Ms Shands was also motivated to confront the man to retrieve work information stored on her computer.

''I'd just finished a brief on China and the only place it was, was on my computer and I didn't want to have to do it again.'' Ms Shands praised police, who were there within minutes and had teams scouring the neighbourhood for the man.

A police spokeswoman said homeowners should never do anything to place themselves in danger, and reminded people to lock up.

She also said there had been several reports of keys being stolen during burglaries which can make residents feel unsafe until they are replaced.

The offender is described as being well built and of Asian appearance, and was wearing a denim jacket and three-quarter-length denim shorts.

Anyone with information should Contact Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000.

What do you this of this brazen encounter? Leave us a comment below.

