An off-duty NYPD officer saved a 1-year-old girl from choking after her frantic mother, the cop’s neighbor, rushed to his LI home seeking help, the NYPD announced Tuesday.
Officer Freddy Cerpa was at his home in Elmont when his neighbor rushed to his front door carrying her infant daughter, an unspecified object lodged in her throat, around 2 p.m. on Dec. 7, cops said.
A police officer is truly never off-duty.
A frantic mother rushed to her neighbor’s home after her infant began choking. Knowing her neighbor, Officer Freddy Cerpa, was a cop, she turned to him for help.
He immediately rendered aid and saved the child’s life. pic.twitter.com/0dadWOjjK9
— NYPD NEWS (@NYPDnews) December 22, 2025
Footage posted online shows the cool-headed cop immediately employing life-saving measures, swirling his finger in the girl’s mouth and then patting her back until she able to breathe again.
Cerpa joined the force on Oct. 30, 2024. He is assigned to the 43rd Precinct in the Bronx.
