Warren police save heart-attack victim

WARREN — A 62-year-old city man rode his bicycle to the Municipal Justice Building on South Street to report a stolen wallet and ended up having his life saved by a secretary and two police officers.

Robert E. Garner of Delaware Avenue was directed to the lobby outside of the Warren Police Department and City Council chambers to have Patrolman David Gallagher make a report of the incident.

Garner told Gallagher he felt faint and moved to sit down beside the officer’s desk before collapsing, apparently the victim of a heart attack.

Gallagher called for an ambulance and realized Garner had no pulse. After Gallagher rolled Garner onto his back, Shelby Smith, secretary to Police Chief John Mandopoulos, began chest compressions.

Detective Geoffrey Fusco arrived on the scene and used a portable heart defibrillator located beside Gallagher’s desk to deliver a shock to Garner’s heart.

Ambulance workers arrived just after that and took over Garner’s care, according to a report Gallagher filed on the Thursday incident.

Garner was in the coronary care unit at Forum Health Trumbull Memorial Hospital this morning.

His condition was not available.