According to the Buffalo News, A Buffalo police officer saved a choking man’s life by performing the Heimlich maneuver, but after the man coughed up a baggie of cocaine, he cuffed him, police said.
Central District Officers Sean McCabe and Omar Rodriguez said they were on routine patrol at 6:26 p.m. Thursday on Whitney Place, between Maryland and Virginia streets, when they saw Bryan Ramos sitting outside a vacant house.
When they approached Ramos for questioning and for a pat down, he put a pack of cigarettes that appeared to contain drugs in his mouth, according to an arrest report. Ramos struggled, and he was pulled by the officers to the ground. He continued to resist, so the officers sprayed him with pepper spray, according to the report.
Ramos began having a hard time breathing, and was turning purple, so McCabe performed the Heimlich on him, according to police reports. Officers said Ramos coughed up the cigarette pack containing a plastic bag of cocaine.
Ramos, 23, of Massachusetts Avenue, was charged with criminal possession of a controlled substance, tampering with physical evidence, obstructing governmental administration, resisting arrest and criminal trespass following the incident.
