After waking up to find his car missing, one Dartmouth, N.S., man took matters -- as well as the alleged thief -- into his own hands by performing a rare citizen’s arrest.

Ryan Cheverie had woken up Saturday night to a sound at his apartment door. After opening it to an empty hallway, he locked up and went back to sleep, thinking nothing of it until the next morning.

“It wasn't until I started to get ready for work that I realized I couldn't find my keys,” he said. “Finally, I looked out of my bedroom window -- my car was gone.”

He reported the car stolen and picked up a rental car. It was on his way home that his own Honda Civic, with the plates now removed, drove past him.

His reaction, he said, was immediate.

“I'm getting my car back.”

Cheverie pulled a U-turn and chased down the man driving his car.

“I blocked him in. I got out and I just forced him out of the car,” he said. “I made sure he wasn't going anywhere.”

He performed a citizen’s arrest and held the driver until police arrive. Police said there’s no other case in recent memory of someone physically detaining someone to retrieve a car.

“It's not very often, but it does happen,” said Const. Pierre Bourdages of the Halifax Regional Police. “It is a right that people have to make a citizen’s arrest.”

Cheverie met the specific requirements for making a legal citizen’s arrest: the crime involved his property, he detained the suspect with a reasonable amount of force and he alerted police immediately. According to the Department of Justice website, that last requirement is important.

“The arrested individual must be delivered to a police officer without delay,” reads the section about making a citizen's arrest. “If you make a citizen's arrest and do not call the police as soon as possible, the arrest might be ruled illegal, and you could face civil or criminal consequences.”

As a result of the arrest, 35-year-old Billy Gregory Hyslop faces numerous charges including theft of a motor vehicle, theft over $5,000 and possession of stolen property.

Cheverie has his car back, and also has advice to avoid thieves brazen enough to snatch keys from inside your house.

“Lock your door,” he said. “Don’t put your keys on the counter, I guess. Keep them in your pocket.”

With files from CTV Atlantic's Gena Holley