LATEST: HAWTHORN midfielder Brendan Whitecross has become the latest victim of a frightening home invasion in Melbourne’s east — as one ­offender remains on the run.

Whitecross said he went into “fight or flight mode” after catching thieves creeping through his house while his fiancee and children slept.

He leapt out of bed and chased the men out of the house — but not before they could steal the keys to the family’s new Porsche.

“I went into fight mode so I chased him downstairs,” he said. “The first thought was to make sure we were all OK and they could take whatever they want, because you can replace everything else.”

The footballer said his nerves and adrenaline were “pumping pretty hard” as he thought of the safety of Kelly and their young children.

“My thought was if I could handle Hodgey (Luke Hodge) when he’s a bit fired up, I thought I could handle anybody,” Whitecross said.

His fiancee is now too scared to stay in their Croydon home after the invasion about 2am yesterday.

“We woke up to one of our dogs barking, which was a bit out of character for her, so we thought we better have a look at what’s going on,” Whitecross said. “I went downstairs to find a bloke in the house looking for keys so of course your instincts kick in.”

The offenders tried to break a window to escape but became stuck in the fly screen.

“It was pretty amateur to watch ... the way it happened just seemed very unplanned,” Whitecross said.

After untangling themselves, the bumbling thieves ran out the door and drove off.

But moments later, the car did a U-turn and returned to the front of the Whitecross family’s property, where one of the burglars used the stolen car keys to open Kelly’s Porsche Macan.

The Hawthorn star said he believed there were two ­offenders in his house at the time of the burglary and at least three in a car outside.

Whitecross cancelled footy training to stay home with his frightened family, while throughout the morning a police helicopter gave chase after witnesses spotted the stolen Porsche speeding across multiple southeastern suburbs.

It was found dumped at The Glen shopping centre in Glen Waverley, while the getaway car was found torched.

One man, aged 21, was charged with aggravated burglary, theft and theft of motor vehicle. He was remanded to face Ringwood Magistrates’ Court on Wednesday morning.

A 20-year-old Wantirna South man remains in hospital under police guard and is yet to be interviewed.

A third man remains on the run.

Anyone with information is urged to call Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000.