9.5 years for a Brownsville shooting that hit a police car and injured officer

February 12, 2024 Robert Abruzzese, Courthouse Editor

A NYPD car. Photo: Julio Cortez/AP File

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A Brooklyn man has been sentenced to nine-and-a-half years in prison following a daylight shooting incident in Brownsville that resulted in a marked police car being struck by gunfire and a detective injured by shattered glass.

The incident unfolded on June 23, 2022, near Legion Street and Pitkin Avenue, when an NYPD vehicle on patrol was hit, causing injuries to the detective inside from broken glass.

The assailant, identified as 28-year-old Jah-Mike Woolridge of Brownsville, Brooklyn, was sentenced by Brooklyn Supreme Court Justice Miriam Cyrulnik on Thursday after pleading guilty to first-degree attempted assault. In addition to his prison sentence, Woolridge will serve five years of post-release supervision.

“Thankfully, this NYPD detective was spared more serious injuries when this defendant fired a barrage of approximately nine rounds in broad daylight,” said District Attorney Eric Gonzalez. “Today’s sentence holds him accountable for his actions and will help to make the streets of Brooklyn safer.”

On June 23, 2022, around 4:30 p.m. near Legion Street and Pitkin Avenue, a dispute escalated into gunfire when Woolridge, following an earlier argument with a 23-year-old, opened fire on the younger man’s car as it was stopped at a red light. Woolridge unleashed multiple rounds not only at the car but also into the busy intersection, hitting the vehicle several times. Despite the vehicle being struck, the 23-year-old inside emerged unscathed, with law enforcement later recovering two bullets from within his car.

NYPD Detective Sunjay Verma, who happened to be nearby and witnessed the assailant, had a bullet from the shooter’s firearm strike and shattered the driver’s side window of his patrol car, causing him injuries from the resulting glass shards.

Despite his injuries, Detective Verma pursued the assailant, who then retreated into the Brooklyn Gardens housing development. There, authorities later found a loaded black pistol, alongside two more bullets inside the damaged police vehicle, indicating the violence of the encounter.

The shooter managed to evade immediate capture, fleeing the scene of the crime. However, the law caught up with him in November 2022, when he was arrested in Maryland by the Fugitive Task Force and the U.S. Marshals.