A group of Madison Heights police officers race against time to save a choking woman at Charlie’s Restaurant April 16, seen here in a screenshot from footage taken by an officer’s body camera.
By: Andy Kozlowski | Madison-Park News | Published April 24, 2026
MADISON HEIGHTS — When Mary Curry, the general manager at Charlie’s Restaurant in Madison Heights, received a text from one of her servers, she thought it would be small talk about baseball. Instead, it was about a harrowing situation that had just unfolded at the diner.
The incident occurred at 7 p.m. April 16 at the family restaurant on the northeast corner of 12 Mile and North Campbell roads. Tony Segobiano was the server managing the evening shift, and the first who realized that one of their regulars — a 72-year-old Shelby Township woman — was choking, turning purple and struggling to breathe.
“When he noticed something wrong, he didn’t hesitate to jump in and help,” Curry said.
Following his training, Segobiano immediately called 911, and then began attempting the Heimlich maneuver, one of the lifesaving measures detailed in the backroom at the restaurant. Segobiano was joined by a patron, as well — a woman who is a registered nurse.
As they tried to dislodge the food from the woman’s windpipe, staff were waiting outside to flag down first responders and escort them to the scene.
“It was incredible how quickly (police) arrived, and how they took charge of the situation,” Curry said.
The responding police officers — identified by the Madison Heights Police Department by their surnames Teal, Rivera, Al-Hilfi and Berlucchi — were led by staff members to the woman.
Body camera footage shows officers lifting her unconscious body from a seated position and administering the Heimlich maneuver, with Teal and Rivera alternating abdominal thrusts while Al-Hilfi and Berlucchi kept the woman upright and stable.
In the end, the obstruction was cleared, and the woman resumed breathing. The officers can be seen placing her in a recovery position as they waited for paramedics, who then arrived to continue treatment and transport her to a local hospital.
“Something we really appreciated about the EMTs was after the incident, they came back and let us know the woman was OK, because we were all holding our breath worried about her,” Curry said. “We were told she’s doing great, so it was just a huge sigh of relief.”
Curry said the patrons of Charlie’s Restaurant are like family to her staff.
“We’re very close-knit here, with little turnover in staffing. And I would daresay we have upwards of 70% regulars at this place, where you know us and we know you, your favorite things, your kids. We survived and thrived during COVID because of the community around us, so we take our responsibility to everyone who dines here very seriously,” Curry said.
Madison Heights Police Chief Brent LeMerise praised the heroic actions of his officers.
“I’m proud of how they leapt into action, no hesitation, and how their training kicked in,” LeMerise said. “They understood this was a situation that required quick action, the appropriate life-saving measures, and they did a fantastic job administering it.”
He said CPR and the Heimlich maneuver are “perishable skills” that even police officers can forget without regular training, but the Madison Heights Police Department is diligent about maintaining those skills.
“That regular training makes it second nature,” LeMerise said.
He also described how officers try to visualize a scene before they arrive, to get the lay of the land and prime themselves for what they may encounter. But here, the police arrived so quickly that they didn’t have time to think through the possibilities.
“The officers showed up, quickly and safely, and sprung right into action,” LeMerise said. “They were so tired, too, having to switch (with the abdominal thrusts), but they still thought to put her in a recovery position until the Fire Department arrived. Again, I’m just so proud of them.”
Madison Heights Mayor Corey Haines was the previous police chief of Madison Heights, and he currently serves as the police chief of Eastpointe.
“They did an amazing job,” Haines said. “They put everything aside and focused on the situation at hand and did what they were trained to do. They put their all into it, and they did it as a team. There is so much pressure, because you never want to lose a person you’re trying to save. But they did exactly what they needed to do, and they saved a life.”
Call Staff Writer Andy Kozlowski at (586) 498-1046.