A Manteca father trying to find his daughter’s stolen bicycle challenged a man riding it within a block of his home Friday night and almost got himself killed.

The father asked the man where he got the bike and was told he “purchased it from a guy.”

As the father drove away the suspect fired five shots into the back of his vehicle with one  missing his head by some 12 inches, according to Manteca Police.  

The victim found the bike shortly before 11 p.m. Friday in the 200 block of Elm Avenue. It had been taken in the 200 block of Acacia Avenue, according to police.

He told officers the suspect sped off and disappeared into the darkness after the shooting.

The bicycle was a gray and purple girls’ gray Huffy mountain bike. Police reported finding spent shell casings in the roadway.  The suspect was described as a man standing 5-foot-8 to 5-foot-9 and weighing an estimated 180 to 185 pounds.   Anyone with information on the suspect or the location of the bicycle is urged to call the Manteca Police department to help in the ongoing investigation.

The suspect was described as weighing 180 to 185 pounds and standing 5-foot-6 to 5-foot-eight inches tall.  The shell casings from the shooting were found in the roadway, police reported.