WARMINGTON: This Home Depot shopping trip leaves three alleged thieves in cuffs

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Where there’s smoke, there’s not just fire, but Halton Regional Police officers ready to extinguish an alleged crime in action.

Well, smoke detectors that is — more than $6,000 worth to be precise.

If the allegations are proven to be true, these are three guys authorities wish would have boycotted Home Depot.

And Halton police are determined to ensure any thieves think twice before stepping foot in there again. As the force’s motto goes: “Not in our town.” They take this seriously.

It’s sweet that these arrests happened on the very day Toronto Mayor Olivia Chow was in the news for unfairly suggesting customers boycott the famous hardware store after Home Depot withdrew its financial support for this year’s Pride parade.

It was a ridiculous and unprofessional notion by the mayor towards a company that did not deserve such treatment. The company still sponsors Pride activities in other parts of Canada and is entitled to put money wherever it chooses

While what happened at a Home Depot store on Bristol Circle, near Dundas St., in Oakville Tuesday night was not related to Pride or Chow’s comments, it provides a reminder of the challenges facing the chain —  and how they are routinely victimized by criminals hoping to steal their merchandise and sell it on the back market.

While Toronto’s mayor was prepared to effectively throw Home Depot to the wolves and say the chain is on its own, police not only sprinted to help them, but went to great lengths to arrest the alleged culprits.

“Police were contacted by the Home Depot at approximately 6:10 p.m after the men fled the store with approximately $6,000 worth of smoke detectors,” alleged Const. Ryan Anderson. “Officers located, arrested and charged the men. A 32-year-old male of Brampton and an 18-year-old male of Hamilton were each charged with theft over $5,000.”

Anderson added that after officers arrested two suspects, they nabbed a third in a nearby Harvey’s.

It was quite a scene in a residential neighbourhood in the Winston Churchill Blvd.-Dundas St. area, just across Oakville’s border in Mississauga.

What a precision takedown. Efficient, professional and respectful.

Iacob-Sebi Grancea, 18, of Hamilton, Nicolai-Ioan Notar, 32, of Oakville, and Emanuel Birsan, 20 of Brampton, were each charged with one count of theft over $5,000.

The charges against the three have not been tested in court. They are considered innocent until proven guilty.

Meanwhile, the accused men appeared surprised and were arrested without a major incident. Needless to say, this was an bizarre scene on a quiet street in front of a school.

But this was “broken windows”-style policing at its best. The people who are stealing merchandise from the LCBOs or struggling big retail have become accustomed to walking out with the stolen goods, free of worries about any pushback.

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Halton Police, however, pushed back and chased these alleged thieves down, cuffing them all.

Officers said they recovered the products which will go back to Home Depot so the retailer can sell the smoke detectors to legitimate customers.

Don’t boycott the place. Support it.

They employ people, drive Canadian commerce and help people repair their homes.

And they are sometimes victims of crime.

Also hats off to Halton Police for taking this kind of call so seriously. They did their jobs.

They didn’t hurt the suspects or yell at the people taking pictures of the arrest. They just focused on keeping their community safe.