NYPD: Armed man struck by unmarked police vehicle in Brownsville

A man who pointed a gun at a woman in Brownsville overnight was struck by an unmarked police vehicle during a chase and taken to Brookdale Hospital for surgery, the NYPD said during a news conference.

The incident unfolded at East New York Avenue and Ralph Avenue around 3:30 a.m.

The detectives who witnessed the incident were assigned in a summer violence reduction zone. NYPD Chief of Patrol John Chell said the suspect fled on foot when a sergeant and police officer tried to “cut him off in a driveway and there was a collision.”

He did not elaborate on how the collision unfolded. Chell said the detectives were “exactly where they were supposed to be and probably prevented a shooting."

A gun was recovered at the scene, Chell said.

News 12 spoke with the man’s family outside Brookdale Hospital. They identified him as 29-year-old Giovanni Mayo.

“What happened to my brother was terrible. It is terrible because he wasn't trying to harm anyone. He wasn't trying to harm the cops,” said Alexis Mayo, Mayo’s sister.

News 12 spoke with Sabrina Robert, who says she was the woman with him at the time of the incident. She said there was no probable cause for the police to chase him and that she and his family are standing by his side. They say all they want right now is for Mayo to be OK.

It wasn’t immediately clear if Mayo is facing any charges.