HollyMatkinHartford, CT – A Hartford police officer was listed in critical condition on Friday morning, after she was repeatedly stabbed in the neck during a violent attack the day prior.
Hartford Police Officer Jill Kidik opened her eyes on Friday morning, and found herself surrounded by her family and friends, Hartford Deputy Chief Brian Foley told the Hartford Courant.
“She is alert and staying strong,” Chief Foley added.
The attack occurred at approximately 9:48 a.m. on Thursday, after officers were dispatched to a report of a tenant-landlord dispute, the Hartford Courant reported.
There were no indications that anyone had a weapon when police received the call for assistance, Hartford Police Chief David Rosado said.
Multiple officers responded to the scene, but Officer Kidik, a 12-year veteran of the force, was the first to arrive.
She made contact with 39-year-old Chevoughn Augustin, and attempted to convince her to exit her apartment.
During the interaction, Augustin was able to knock Officer Kidik to the ground, Chief Foley explained.
She then placed the officer in a chokehold, and plunged a ceramic knife into her neck, lacerating her trachea and jugular vein.
Apartment maintenance workers grabbed Augustin, and managed to pull her off of the injured officer.
Another Hartford officer, who was also trained as an emergency medical technician, began tending to Officer Kidik, while her fellow officers began shutting down traffic along the route to the hospital.
Officer Kidik was rushed to the Hartford Hospital’s level 1 trauma center, and was immediately taken into emergency surgery.
Several hours later, the officer was recovering in the intensive care unit.
On Friday morning, Officer Kidik’s colleagues were told that she was expected to make a full recovery, Officer Theresa Velez told the Hartford Courant.
“Jill is a phenomenal officer. She is crisis-intervention trained,” Officer Velez said. “She goes to these mental health issue calls all day and night. She’s not a slacker – She’s a great, great cop.”
Augustin later confessed to the attack on Officer Kidik, and said that the officer “made comments that caused her not to trust her,” according to a police report.
She told detectives that she could not recall what comments the officer had allegedly made, however.
Augustin said that she showed Officer Kidik her identification upon request, and that she then “decided that she wanted to leave,” but that the officer was “standing in her way,” the report read.
During the ensuing struggle, Augustin said she was able to grab a purple “chopping knife” from her kitchen, and said she stabbed the officer twice in the neck, according to the report.
Augustin was treated for lacerations to her right hand, but sustained no other injuries during the attack.
She was charged with assault in the first degree, assault on police, criminal mischief in the third degree, and attempted murder, police said.
Shortly after Officer Kidik awoke on Friday morning, Augustin appeared before Judge Tammy Nguyen at for her arraignment.
As 150 officers waited outside the Superior Court, Nguyen ordered that Augustin be held on $2 million bond.
Chief Rosado said he felt the bond amount was fair, given the circumstances of the attack.
“This is a serious matter, obviously,” he told the Hartford Courant. “We cannot afford to have folks who think they can attack … one of our officers on the street. There is a criminal process and there is due process for her. She will get that.”