The Dunedin man said about 60 pairs of panties had gone missing from the property since the beginning of the year, with hundreds more reportedly taken from clotheslines around the neighbourhood.
"It was getting quite disturbing . . . and Mum was getting a bit worried," he said.
Police were alerted to the problem and a camera was set up on the property in an attempt to catch the perpetrator.
However, with panties still going missing, Mr Reeves decided to spend the odd night watching the clothesline.
The family even rigged up their own homemade security system - cotton thread - around the perimeter of the property, and kept records of what underwear was on the line.
In order to tempt the prowler, women's underwear was bought and left on the line overnight as Mr Reeves kept watch from inside his mother's house.
"It was like Murphy's law - when I wasn't at the house, more pairs would go missing," he said.
But after several fruitless nights, he decided to spend the night hidden in a nearby rhododendron bush, with his brother-in-law behind nearby ferns.
After an almost six-hour vigil, the pair decided at daybreak to move inside the house.
Soon after, Mr Reeves saw a man removing items from the line.
The pair then watched the man enter the neighbour's property.
They yelled at him, but he took off, throwing panties away as he ran.
The two men gave chase, catching him almost 1km away at the Green Island Rugby Football Club.
"He was pretty embarrassed."
Mr Reeves said the subsequent arrest by police had brought relief to his mother and the local community.
"I just wanted the neighbourhood to feel a bit safer.
"Police can't be everywhere all the time and I wanted to do my little bit."
A 38-year-old Dunedin man will appear in the Dunedin District Court tomorrow on two burglary charges in relation to the incident.
