South Bend Police are putting the “hero spotlight” on a citizen who they say deserves special recognition.

It was just before midnight on Christmas Eve, in the midst of the Blizzard Warning with the wind chill at 30-below-zero when officers received a call about a woman struggling to keep warm outside a business on the city’s south side.

The concerned citizen who placed that call, Joe Breathitt, stayed with the woman to watch over her as he waited for our officers to arrive.

The woman is homeless and reluctant to accept help and insisted she was okay, but Breathitt insisted on paying for a hotel room for the night.

Officers helped find an available room at the Holiday Inn Express and drove the woman to the hotel while Breathitt paid the $129 bill at the front desk.