Police Superintendent Paul Smith said on Friday morning the 33 year-old had been arrested over the Thursday night incident.

"It was in a public street and it will be alleged that the offender was armed with a knife," he said.

"It will be alleged items were demanded from the victim."

The drama occurred in Selle Lane near the Service NSW office.

News of the arrest coincided with the high-ranking policeman warning home-owners, particularly tradies, to safeguard their possessions following in increase in stealing.

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"We see wallets stolen from motor vehicles that are parked outside houses overnight," Superintendent Smith said.

"We see thousands of dollars worth of power tools stolen off the back of utes that are left in public streets.

"You need to take some precautions, there's thieves out there and if they see that property they'll take it.

"We've certainly seen a bit of a spike, we went through quite a good period here where we've had a big drop-off in property crime, that seems to be on the rise and we ask the public for assistance to get on top of it."

Superintendent Smith said his warning to be alert was for the entirety of Albury.