Utility Workers Who Stepped In After Dobbs Ferry Police Officer Slashed Speak Out: 'They're Out Here To Protect Us And It Was My Job To Help Him'
DOBBS FERRY, N.Y. (CBSNewYork) -The utility workers who dropped everything to help a suburban Westchester cop attacked by a man with a knife are speaking out.
We're also learning more about the 36-year-old suspect.
As CBS2's Tony Aiello reports, it was back to work Friday at a Con Ed gas main project, but not quite back to normal for Paul Figueiredo, who went to bed praying for a Dobbs Ferry cop.
"Hoping that he pulled through - and he did!" he said.
Chopper 2 was over the scene Thursday after a man walking down Beacon Hill Drive suddenly attacked the officer. Figueiredo saw the whole thing.
"He came up to him from behind and just stabbed him on the side of the head. I realized he was bleeding and I yelled 'He just stabbed a cop! Somebody get him!' And that's when I started chasing him," he said.
Figeiredo tracked suspect Matthew Burke to an area behind some dumpsters, assisting the cops who took Burke into custody.
"They need to get home to their family just like we do. They're out here to protect us and it was my job to help him," he said.
Meanwhile, Con Ed supervisor Tim Brennan grabbed his first aid kit to help the officer, who was bleeding profusely.
"He was looking so bad. He removed his hand, checked his hand, saw the blood and said 'Guys, if I bleed out, make sure my wife and kids know that I love them,'" Brennan said.
There's tremendous relief the cop will recover, and gratitude as well. Dobbs Ferry officers brought lunch to the crew as a show of thanks.
Aiello spoke off camera with someone very close to the suspect, who told Aiello Matthew Burke may have been using marijuana, bought on the street, and laced with another drug.
Burke is charged with attempted murder and other felonies. A judge ordered him held without bond.