Sarasota police: Officers wound man who pulled gun

A man who Sarasota police said produced a gun when officers stopped to talk with him was shot in the leg overnight in the 2500 block of  12th Street.

Officers Adam Arena and Jonathan Torres were not hurt. Arena was routinely placed on paid administrative leave after the shooting. 

Thomas Gick, 35, was taken to Sarasota Memorial Hospital, where he was being treated for wounds to his leg. He is expected to be released from the hospital and taken to the county jail and charged with aggravated assault on a police officer. 

A spokeswoman for the Sarasota Police Department gave this account of the incident:

Following three commercial burglaries in the past three nights in the 2100 block of 13th Street, Arena and Torres were  on patrol nearby around 12:50 a.m. when they spotted a man on a bicycle and tried to speak with him.

The officers reported the man reached into his waistband and pulled out a pistol. Arena fired several shots, hitting the man in the leg. Both officers rendered first aid until Fire-Rescue units arrived.

Gick was taken to Sarasota Memorial Hospital. 

During the investigation, the weapon produced by Gick was discovered to be a realistic-looking Powerline CO2 .177 cal BB gun. 

Officer Arena has been with the Sarasota Police Department since 2011 and Officer Torres has been with the Sarasota Police Department since 2017.

According to court records,  Gick has arrests in Manatee County on charges of domestic battery (2011), possession of drugs without a prescription (2012) and violation of pre-trial release (2011).