Heroes Honored at Hartford City Council Meeting

HARTFORD, CT — Three residents being hailed as heroes for their roles in saving the life of a Hartford police officer who was stabbed during an altercation were honored by the Hartford Police Department Tuesday night at a meeting of the city council.

Distinguished Citizens Awards were presented to Jacqueline Marciano, Marvin Dixon and Jose Casanova for their actions which helped save the life of Officer Jill Kidik on May 17.

Around 9:10 a.m., Kidik responded to the Spectra Apartments at 5 Constitution Plaza on the report of property damage caused by a tenant. The complaint to the police was made by Jacqueline Marciano, Assistant Building Superintendent. When she arrived and proceeded to investigate the complaint, Kidik learned the tenant responsible, Chevoughn Augustin, resided in apartment 903 and had recently been the subject of not only complaints to the police, but a menace to building residents and staff as well, Chief of Police David Rosado said.

Kidik ultimately proceeded to apartment 903 in an attempt to make contact with Augustin. Marciano accompanied her to the ninth floor, but at the officer’s insistence, remained out of sight. On reaching the apartment door and knocking, the officer was met by Augustin. Seeing that the officer was being met with extreme uncooperativeness by her, Marciano saw it fit to contact building maintenance workers Dixon and Casanova and requested they immediately respond to the ninth floor to assist, Rosado said.

Shortly thereafter, Kidik was suddenly attacked by Augustin, who had armed herself with a large butcher knife. The assailant proceeded to stab Kidik multiple times in the throat, causing grievous wounds that bled heavily, Rosado said.

When Dixon and Casanova arrived on the ninth floor, they observed Augustin on the floor holding Kidik down and continuing to stab her. Without hesitation, despite the extreme peril they faced, they collectively rushed the assailant, managed to knock her down and away from the officer and disarmed her, Rosado said.

Marciano rushed to Kidik, applied pressure to her neck wound and, simultaneous to that, made a 911 emergency call to the police department to provide further information. Additional uniformed officers soon arrived, took the assailant into custody and proceeded to aid their injured colleague. Marciano remained with and aided Kidik until she was placed in an ambulance and transported to Hartford Hospital for emergency treatment, Rosado said.

Critically injured, Kidik underwent intensive emergency treatment for multiple stab wounds. Despite significant blood loss as a result of the horrific injuries she sustained, she survived and continues to make significant progress on the way to recovery.

"Without a shadow of doubt, had Ms. Marciano, Mr. Dixon and Mr. Casanova not taken the action they did, Officer Kidik would have died," Rosado said.

Photo courtesy of Hartford Police Department

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