A New York police officer took a page from ingenious TV problem solver MacGyver, using an empty potato chip bag and tape to slow the bleeding of a stabbing victim, police said Sunday.
Police body camera video released by the New York Police Department showed Officer Ronald Kennedy placing the bag over the man's wound.
"Above & beyond!" Police Commissioner Dermot Shea tweeted Friday. "NY's #Finest at work..."
The officer used the makeshift tourniquet July 7 after he responded to a report of a stabbing in Harlem, the police 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 says on the body camera recording. A "chopped cheese" bodega is seen in the background.
"Just relax," he tells the victim.
After a bystander brings the officer an unopened bag of Lay's potato chips, Kennedy hastily opens and empties it, the chips falling to the ground. He then tells the bystander, "Go in there and get me tape."
He asks two others to help him lay the victim down on the ground. With packing tape in hand, he uses it to secure the flattened bag to the man's bleeding chest.
"We got you. We got you," Kennedy tells the victim. "Stay with me."
When paramedics arrive, Kennedy says: "I tried. It's the best I could do with what I got."
He helps paramedics remove the bag and apply gauze to the wound.
"Keep breathing, bro," Kennedy says.
Kennedy was assisted by Officer Matthew Grieve, the police department said.
The victim was taken to NYC Health + Hospitals/Harlem in critical condition, police said. Police said in a statement in the edited bodycam video that the attending physician attributed the man's survival to Kennedy's actions.
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 that he was released Friday. No reason was listed.
It was unclear Sunday whether Rodriguez has retained an attorney. New York County Defender Services did not immediately respond to a request for information.
