A destitute couple on their way to Carson City ran into the warm arm of the law last week when a Douglas County deputy provided gas and a motel room so they wouldn't have to sleep overnight in their vehicle in sub-zero temperatures.
Deputy Les Vido responded to the Walmart parking lot Dec. 9 shortly before 10 p.m. for a citizen assist where he met the couple who said they were homeless and moving from Red Bluff to Carson City.
The woman said they had planned to stay at a relative's that night in Indian Hills, but there was no room. They were going to spend the night in their 1989 Toyota 4-Runner in the Walmart parking lot.
Vido said the temperature was 4 degrees below zero.
The couple was without money, had a host of medical problems and were desperate to get in out of the cold. She told Vido they had been homeless since the end of November.
Vido contacted Sgt. Mick Doan who authorized the deputy to obtain two room nights from a Gardnerville motel to be reimbursed from the county's indigent services fund.
The couple also had about an eighth of a tank of gas, so Vido had a deputy pickup a gas can at Vido's home in Gardnerville and meet them at the motel. Vido put five gallons of gas in the couple's vehicle.
