Off-duty and pregnant Port Authority of New York and New Jersey (PAPD) Police Officer Chee Ying Yong did not hesitate when she heard the blood-curdling cries of a teenage victim suffering from multiple stab wounds. Her actions led the Port Authority Police Benevolent Association (PBA) to award her its highest honor at the annual PBA Cop of the Year Dinner on February 6 — making her the first female PAPD officer in PBA history to receive the distinction.
On October 2, 2025, Yong, who was four months pregnant with her first child, found the 17-year-old male hemorrhaging blood on a sidewalk in front of his home in Queens, New York City. Yong immediately went into lifesaving mode, attempting to stanch the flow of blood while relaying concise information to a 9-1-1 operator for a police and EMS response.
The incident changed dramatically when a frantic woman appeared at the front door screaming that her mother had just been stabbed to death and that the murderer was setting the house on fire.
Yong now found herself in a perilous situation, jeopardizing her life and the life of her unborn child, but she never wavered in trying to save the young man’s life. She informed the 9-1-1 operator that a homicide was committed and the suspect — who was now setting the house ablaze — was still on scene and to let responding police know the danger they would be confronted with…