DALTON GARDENS - The Kootenai County Sheriff's Office issued a press release Thursday praising two patrol sergeants for going above and beyond the call of duty.

Lt. Stu Miller, KCSO spokesman, said the "patrol sergeants embody true spirit of service to the community."

According to the release, around 5 p.m. on Dec. 12, KCSO Sgt. Jon Brandel was patrolling in Dalton Gardens when he saw a small sedan eastbound on Hanley Avenue traveling at a very slow pace with several other cars following.

Brandel said in an interview Thursday it looked like someone was having a problem with their car, so he stopped the car and talked with the driver, an 89-year-old Dalton Gardens resident.

During that contact, Brandel said it became apparent that she was having difficulty finding her home because it was dark, rainy and foggy.

"She just got turned around returning from the grocery store and missed the street she need to turn on," Brandel said, adding she had run out of groceries four days earlier and was starting to get hungry.

She tried to get to the store and back during the daylight hours, but when she got turned around it got dark and made it difficult for her to find her house.

As Brandel attempted to locate a family member to assist her, Sgt. Ward Crawford arrived on scene and stayed with her.

Brandel was unable to locate any relatives so he and Crawford helped get her and her car home and helped get her and her groceries into the house, the release said.

He said she just lived around the corner from where he stopped her.

"She kept saying that she had to return to the store to get milk," Brandel said. "She gets her milk at Safeway, and she wanted to go back and get it."

Realizing how difficulty that would be for her, Brandel drove to the store and purchased the milk for her and delivered it to the house.

"That's what we are in the business of doing," Brandel said. "We are in the business of helping people meet their needs."

He said he is really surprised the KCSO would make a big deal of the incident.

"It's so often we get lost in the shuffle I guess," he said. "But I am still taken aback by this press release. We were just doing our jobs."

The woman's contact information was passed to the local Area Agency on Aging for followup, the release said.