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A man caught red-handed weeing in the street shot himself in the groin as he tried to flee from police.

Javier Thomas, 26, was caught relieving himself in the early hours of the morning.

As they approached him, he tried to toss his gun – but instead shot himself.

He was rushed to hospital but his injuries are not believed to be serious.

Police saw Thomas urinating at around 1.15am when they were patrolling an area of Brooklyn, New York.

(Image: Google Maps)

As they approached him he tried to ditch the 9mm Glock, but accidentally pulled the trigger and hit himself in the groin.

Thomas was later arrested for weapons possession and reckless endangerment charges, New York Daily News reports.

His gun was recovered at the scene, police said.

Family members told the Daily News they hadn't seen Thomas for years.

Claudette Butler, 55, said: "I didn't think he was still in New York."

Read more:Watch man get shot in manhood as he promotes bulletproof codpiece

Thomas may now be in the market for a new bulletproof groin protector being tested out earlier this year.

Missouri-born Jeremiah Raber, 38, is the owner and creator of Nutshellz, which claims to be the strongest jockstrap in the world.

And in order to publicise his Kickstarter campaign to produce a version for kids, Jeremiah's business partner and avid hunter Matt Heck shot him with a rifle while he was wearing the super-strength cup.

Luckily, both the product and Matt did their job, and Jeremiah emerged from the William Tell-style experiment completely unharmed.