On May 6th, 2021, officers from the New York Police Department, Midtown North Precinct, were dispatched to West 31st Street and Broadway, after a male subject forced a woman out of her car and began fleeing the area.

As officers arrived in the area, the vehicle had fled onto the West Side Highway, where an unmarked police car soon spotted the fleeing suspect and attempted to make a traffic stop on West 44th Street. According to police reports and body worn footage, upon exiting their unmarked police cruiser, the suspect immediately put his car in reverse and slammed into the unmarked vehicle.

In response, an NYPD Sergeant began firing multiple shots, striking the vehicle, but missed the suspect, and luckily the bystanders in the densely populated area. Later reports indicated, no one in the area was injured or struck by gunfire. After crashing the vehicle, officers surrounded the suspect and aggressively removed him from the stolen car. The suspect, who was later identified as 44-year-old Johnny Diaz, was apprehended and sent to Midtown South Precinct for processing.

Police sources later stated that Diaz was released from prison on parole last summer for a drug conviction. Earlier in the year, Diaz was arrested again in April for allegedly stealing an electric scooter but was released.