Manteca Police last week were down five patrol units.

And two of them had been on the streets for a matter of weeks.

The incident April 30 at the In-n-Out Burger where the suspect was shot and killed after ramming two patrol units involved two of the five patrol vehicles the Manteca City Council authorized ordering in January at a cost of $510,000.

The units are apparently repairable.

That’s not the case for a newer 2024 patrol unit the city took delivery of last year that was intentionally rammed by a suspect in January on Main Street. The suspect was then struck and killed by a truck on the 120 Bypass after he jumped off the overpass.

The unit was hit so hard the air bags deployed. The officer in the  patrol unit was not injured.

Police Chief Stephen Schluer said the patrol unit in the January incident ended up being totaled.

It was among the five new patrol units that included three 2024  Ford F-150 Police Responder pickups and two Dodge Durango SUVs the department took delivery of in mid-2024.

They were purchased with federal pandemic relief funds the city received.

 The other two units out of commission last week had mechanical issues.

That left the department with 16 available patrol units.

Schluer said at any given time the department has 16 to 17 patrol units available.

The purchase in 2024 along with the one this year allowed the police to replace 10 patrol units that had high mileage on them and were spending a lot of time in the repair shop.

The council opted to buy the five units in January knowing Measure Q funds would backfill reserves tapped for the $510,000 to cover the cost.

The delivery of the last five cars helped end the department having to resort to doubling up officers in a car when a unit wouldn’t start at the beginning of a shift. The result was less patrol coverage.

To contact Dennis Wyatt, email dwyatt@mantecabulletin.com