Cops in Brooklyn chasing a gun-toting man struck him with their NYPD vehicle early Sunday, critically injuring him, officials said.
The tense confrontation started about 3:30 a.m. when two NYPD detectives came upon the man pointing a gun at a woman outside a store at the corner of Sutter and Ralph Aves., NYPD Chief of Patrol John Chell said.
The man ran off and tossed the gun while the detectives chased him on foot, Chell said. That’s when a second pair of NYPD cops, a sergeant and officer in uniform in an unmarked vehicle, tried to cut him off in the driveway of a storage facility at East New York and Ralph Aves, Chell said.
They struck the man with their vehicle, critically injuring him, police said. Medics took him to an area hospital, where he was undergoing surgery Sunday morning, according to Chell.
The detectives, both from Bronx Narcotics, were assigned to Brownsville as part of a summer crime reduction program, Chell said.
“They probably prevented a shooting tonight,” he said.
Police have not released the name or age of the man and have not identified the officers involved.