Police: Man dumps gun as he flees cops

A Roosevelt man who tried to ditch a semiautomatic handgun as he ran from Special Investigations Squad officers Wednesday faces a weapon-possession charge, Nassau County police said.

Tyshawn G. Gitto, 21, was riding a bicycle east on Lincoln Avenue in Roosevelt at about 11:31 p.m. when officers from the squad on patrol noticed a bulge in his right-front jacket pocket.

A police spokeswoman said Wednesday Gitto appeared to realize he was being watched and tugged at the bulge in his pocket several times.

Police said Gitto then jumped off his bicycle and ran into the rear yards on Park Avenue, throwing a handgun under a parked vehicle.

Gitto was arrested on the corner of Lincoln Avenue and Horace Avenue, police said, and the handgun was recovered. No injuries were reported.

Gitto faces two counts of criminal possession of a weapon and is scheduled to be arraigned Thursday at First District Court in Hempstead.