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Off-duty New Jersey State Police Major Michael Rinaldi was rendering aid when Westwood Police Officers Greg Dorfman and Stephanie Laurent arrived at the Westwood Diner & Pancake House on Old Hook Road around 1:50 p.m. Tuesday.
Rinaldi and the officers used the Heimlich maneuver to dislodge the food, then did chest compressions to revive him, Police Chief Michael Pontillo said.
Members of the Westwood Volunteer Ambulance Squad them took the man across the street to Hackensack PV Medical Center.
“It's nice to see newer officers performing at their best when situations are at their worst,” Pontillo said.
The chief also singled out Rinaldi, a Pascack Valley native who, without hesitating, "began life-saving efforts and contributed to the positive outcome," he said.
Rinaldi (above), a Bergen Catholic High School graduate and law enforcement veteran of nearly 25 years, supervises the New Jersey State Police Office of Drug Monitoring and Analysis as part of the state's Drug Monitoring Initiative.
Until last fall, he was a bureau chief assigned to the state and federal Joint Terrorism Task Forces in Newark, New York and Philadelphia.
Dorfman was sworn to the borough police force two years ago. Laurent, a rookie, just joined last month.
“We are grateful for their efforts and performance,” Pontillo said. “Their actions reflect the highest of standards of the law enforcement profession.”
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