A New York Police Department officer took a page from ingenious TV problem-solver MacGyver after using an empty potato chips bag and tape to slow the bleeding of a stabbing victim, police said Sunday.
Police body camera video released by the department showed Officer Ronald Kennedy placing the bag over the man’s wound.
“Above & beyond!” NYPD Commissioner Dermot F. Shea tweeted Friday. “NY’s #Finest at work…”
The officer used the makeshift tourniquet on July 7 after responding to a report of a stabbing in Harlem, the NYPD’s public information office said.
The victim, a 28-year-old man, was stabbed in his torso, the department said.
“Go get me a bag of potato chips right now,” Kennedy said on the body camera recording. A “chopped cheese” bodega is seen in the background.
“Just relax,” he said to the victim.
After a bystander brought the officer an unopened bag of Lays potato chips, Kennedy hastily opened and emptied it, the chips falling to the ground. He then told the bystander, “Go in there and get me tape.”
He asked two others to help him lay the victim down on the ground. With packing tape in hand, he used it to secure the flattened bag to the man’s bleeding chest.
“We got you, we got you,” Kennedy said to the victim. “Stay with me.”
When paramedics arrived, Kennedy said, “I tried. It’s the best I could do with what I got.”
He helped paramedics remove the bag and apply gauze to the wound.
“Keep breathing, bro,” Kennedy said.
Kennedy was assisted by Officer Matthew Grieve, the department said.
The victim was taken to NYC Health + Hospitals/Harlem in critical condition, police said. The NYPD said in a statement in the edited body cam video that the attending physician attributed the man’s survival to Kennedy’s actions that night.
The victim was still in the hospital in critical but stable condition, police said Sunday.
On July 11, police arrested Eric Rodriguez, 38, on suspicion of attempted murder, assault and criminal possession of a weapon in connection with the stabbing, police said. New York City jail records indicate he was released Friday. No reason was listed.
It was unclear Sunday whether Rodriguez has retained a lawyer. New York County Defender Services did not immediately respond to a request for information.
Kelcey Henderson contributed.