Samaritans in blue.

Lieutenant Kelly Rushton and Officers Darrell Dain and Sean McCarthy work graveyard shifts for the West Valley City Police Department in Utah. For many weeks, they had been keeping track of a homeless man, whom Officer Dain had first noticed teetering down a street in November of last year, living in a tent near Utah's Jordan River.

At first, Dain assumed that the man, Jimmy Deblasio, was drank, but after talking to him Dain learned that Deblasio "was walking funny because his feet were amputated because of frostbite. So I started checking on him here and there." During their nightly patrols, the three officers occasionally brought Deblasio a hamburger or cup of coffee, and during the Christmas season they collected some clothing and other items for him.

Concerned that Deblasio might not survive the frigid winter temperatures, however, the lawmen eventually asked him if be had any relatives. Deblasio mentioned a brother in another state and, as recounted on January 22 by Salt Lake City television station KSL, the three officers "worked the phones and finally tracked down Jimmy's brother John in California, who hadn't seen Jimmy in 12 years." But John did not have the means to bring his brother to the Golden State, so on January 18 (a Sunday and one of their days off), "Dain, McCarthy and Rushton took Jimmy from his tent, and drove him to California."

When they arrived with Deblasio, Officer Dain recalled, "two people came running out of the house both sobbing, crying, yelling his name, Jimmy, Jimmy, and waving at us." Lt. Rushton described it as "probably one of the most rewarding experiences of my life." And Officer McCarthy said he was both gratified and satisfied to know that their once-homeless friend "was finally somewhere where he would be warm and safe."