Are you the Good Samaritan or one of the customers who was in Tires Tires on Saturday after they closed up shop but failed to lock the doors? Contact us at 416-947-2211 or e-mail torsun.citydesk@sunmedia.ca

TORONTO - The owners of a family-run tire shop are praising the Jane-Finch community after the front door of their business was accidentally left open after hours.

Diego Catala, who — along with his mother and father — owns Tires Tires Ltd. on Eddystone Ave., said a moment of distraction late Saturday afternoon ended up proving what they always knew: There are good people in the community where the shop has been located for 26 years.

The shop’s security system shows five people came into the business while no one was there — and no one took anything, he said.

“They could have taken a set of tires, rims, batteries,” Catala said, adding some of the more high-end parts would cost thousands. “They could have just helped themselves. But no one did.”

Catala said the afternoon wrapped up normally at the shop with the staff gathering to talk and leaving by the side door. But Diego’s mother, Karen, who was working at the front desk, became distracted when a last-minute customer came in.

Karen ended up leaving the shop unlocked, the security system off, and the “OPEN” sign still in place. Over the next three hours, five customers were captured on security camera coming into the store.

The footage, shown to the Toronto Sun, showed people wandering around the shop, befuddled that no one was around. When they saw that the shop was empty, they left.

A fifth man, who arrived on the scene nearly two hours later, took action.

The unidentified Good Samaritan pulled up in a white Dodge pickup truck. He looked around the showroom and realized no one was in. He moved over to the shop counter and looked at their phone book.

Diego said from the look of the footage, the man was hunting for a way to contact the owners. Failing to find a contact number, he walked to the door, flipped the sign to “CLOSED” and left.

Diego said Toronto Police later told the family that a man drove to 31 Division to alert them to the shop’s predicament. The family — they believe he’s the one who went to the police station — wanted the man to come forward so they can reward his honesty.

“Next time he comes in, he gets a free set of tires, right off the bat, no problem,” Diego said.

Officers arrived around 7 p.m. and tracked down the family a short time later. Toronto Police would not comment on the incident.

Karen said she found the situation “inspiring” and believes that since the shop has been in the community for decades, it would be surprising if someone stole something.

“It’s a high-density, low-income, high-stress neighbourhood,” she added. “Everyone is struggling to put money together to pay for the basics. But we don’t have any trouble here.”

Diego added that while Jane-Finch is sometimes branded in a negative light, they care about the community and residents care about neighbourhood businesses.

“When you’re watching the video afterwards, this is sort of a social experiment,” he said, smiling. “Everyone is like, ‘Oh, Jane and Finch, it’s the worst area.’ You come across bad stuff sometimes ... but we’ve never had any incidents.”

shawn.jeffords@sunmedia.ca