Police saved man’s life with Heimlich manoeuvre before arresting him over drugs he coughed up

A police officer in Buffalo, New York, saved a choking man’s life by performing the Heimlich manoeuvre, but after the man coughed up a bag of cocaine, he arrested him.

Central District Officers Sean McCabe and Omar Rodriguez said they were on routine patrol on Thursday 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. Ramos began having a hard time breathing, and was turning purple, so McCabe performed the Heimlich manoeuvre on him. Officers said Ramos coughed up the cigarette pack containing a plastic bag of cocaine.

Ramos, 23, was charged with criminal possession of a controlled substance, tampering with physical evidence, obstructing governmental administration, resisting arrest and criminal trespass following the incident. After his arrest, Ramos told the officers his cousin had asked him to hold the items. “If there is something in that bag I am (in deep trouble). That bag is huge. I know it’s probably a B felony,” Ramos said, according to police.