Veteran Westminster Police dispatcher Erica Marlow was working late Friday night when she got a call from a mother who was home alone with her five-month old baby and needed help.

The woman told Marlow that she was almost out of baby formula, had misplaced her debit card and was nearly out of gas. She had no family nearby, she said.

“The woman was basically at a dead end with no resources,” said Westminster Police Commander Cameron Knauerhaze.

Marlow, a mother of one, wanted to help.

As Officer Nick Jezulin responded to check on the mother, Marlow told him that she would buy the baby formula if he would deliver it.

Jezulin picked up the formula at a nearby 24-hour Walgreens and promptly delivered it to the mother, who was very grateful, Knauerhaze said.

That simple act of kindness is a great example of community policing, Knauerhaze said.

“It wasn’t in their job descriptions but they made a personal choice that night to do the right thing,” he said. “It speaks volumes about their integrity and character.”

Contact the writer: kpuente@ocregister.com