Constable Tom Taylor, who was sleeping naked, was woken by his wife, Christine, when she heard someone outside trying to steal her Ford Laser car.
Const Taylor grabbed a torch and ran outside to apprehend the offender.
The man received the shock of his life when he discovered the person chasing him down Balclutha's northern entrance was, in Const Taylor's words, "an angry, naked man''.
It was a balmy summer's night and Const Taylor was sleeping naked because of the heat.
According to the police Ten-One magazine, Const Taylor "vaulted from his bed, completely starkers''.
He took off outside to grab the offender, who had managed only to roll the car a short distance out of the carport. "The offender bolted, with the officer in hot pursuit, torch in hand.''
In the meantime, Mrs Taylor "who was more suitably attired'' came out to help. The offender ran around a corner, straight into her and she grabbed him by the collar.
Const Taylor, wearing nothing more than a stern look, ordered the man to the ground but when the offender caught sight of the policeman he ran off.
The next morning, Mrs Taylor spotted the man hitch-hiking just north of Balclutha and police arrested him.
In an interview yesterday, a fully clothed Const Taylor said it was the first time in his 11-year police career he had been called to the job "sans clothes''.
"If nothing else, it gave the guy one hell of a fright,'' he said, laughing.
A 25-year-old Christchurch man has since twice failed to appear in the Christchurch District Court on an attempted theft charge.
