A Winnipeg man is sharing his story, after coming face to face with an intruder on his property and following the man around his neighbourhood.

Brent Prusak and his family awoke in their River Heights home around 4 a.m. Friday morning, after their security alarm went off. 

Prusak looked around the house, then grabbed a tennis racket and went to check the garage, where he noticed a door was open when it should have been locked. 

That’s when Prusak noticed a mountain bike missing from the garage.

“All of a sudden this guy is standing in our backyard and I said ‘Can I help you?’” Prusak told CTV News. 

“He says ‘Oh yeah, I was just checking on your place, apparently some guys rode off with a couple bikes.’”

Prusak said he was convinced the man had taken a bike and was back for more. 

Prusak shouted for his wife to call 911, with their young son still inside the home. 

“He kind of started hightailing it out, and I followed him,” said Prusak. 

While walking behind the stranger, Prusak said he also dialled 911 and stayed on the line with dispatch. 

Eventually, Prusak said he convinced the man to come back to his home in hopes of keeping him there until police arrived. 

“I told him ‘If you’re so concerned our place and where our bikes are, come help me find them,’” said Prosak. 

“I got him up the front stairs and I pressed the doorbell which has a camera in it.” 

The photo has since been handed over to the Winnipeg Police Service. 

The man became agitated according to Prusak and took off again, and Prusak gave up on following him. 

He estimated Winnipeg police arrived nearly an hour after the initial call, and said he wondered about the response time.

“When they did show up the two officers were awesome. They came all the way from Transcona to River Heights.” 

Prusak has since recovered his bike but recognizes the situation could have ended differently. 

In a statement to CTV News, a spokesperson Winnipeg Police wrote:

“The response time for this call, as it was entered - male walking through the yard, no weapons, is not unusual in this case. Our calls are dispatched based on a priority basis and this would not have warranted a high priority. Other factors are the number of calls already waiting for dispatch and the availability of Units and the location of those units at the time of dispatch.” 

Police also said the call was upgraded after the dispatcher was able to speak directly with Prusak and that officers arrived about 20 minutes later. 

Officers on scene arrested a suspect shortly after.

A 38-year-old Winnipeg man was charged with break and entering, theft and possessing a weapon.

He was released on a promise to appear.