Two patrol officers, who saved the life of a man who had been stabbed in downtown Minneapolis after refusing to give a cigarette to a 14-year-old girl, were praised for their actions today.

Department spokesman John Elder praised the quick thinking of officers Adam Moen and Corey Schmidt in responding to a stabbing call near the corner of 5th Street and Nicolet Mall. The incident occurred about 2:30 a.m. Saturday, according to police.

"It was all the right place, right time," said Moen, who has been with the department for two years, "and there weren't many people out here so we could pick them up real quick."

Police later arrested three people in connection with the stabbing — two girls, ages 14 and 16, and an 18-year-old Anoka woman — and charged each with first-degree assault with great bodily harm, a felony, Elder said.

The three were arrested shortly after the incident. Elder said that prosecutors were considering whether to charge the 16-year-old girl as an adult.

According to police, the victim was approached by the three suspects, one of whom pulled out a knife and stabbed him after he refused a request for a cigarette.

Schmidt, a 15-year veteran of the force, said that he and his partner pulled up to the scene to find the 19-year-old victim "stumbling, holding his chest." The man had a two-inch stab wound in his chest, Schmidt said. The officers used an adhesive patch, known as a "chest seal," to close the stab wound, trying to staunch the bleeding before paramedics arrived.

The officers' actions most likely saved the man's life, Elder told a group of reporters near where the stabbing occurred.