Five people are behind bars after Manteca police say they forced their way into a Tower Street home, beat the man living there, and fired a gun that lodged in an interior wall before fleeing toward Stockton. No one was struck by the bullet, but the suspects now face charges ranging from conspiracy and battery to kidnapping and, for one man, attempted murder.
According to the Manteca Police Department, officers responded to the 3100 block of Tower Street just before 1 p.m. on September 3 after reports of a shooting inside a residence. Investigators determined the suspects entered the victim's home without consent and physically assaulted him, discharging a firearm at some point during the attack. Police say at least one of the suspects was known to the victim, and that the incident appears to have been targeted rather than random, posing no ongoing threat to the community.
The department's Street Crimes Unit took over the investigation from there, and that's where Manteca's license plate reader network came into play. The city runs an 82-camera automated license plate reader system, including 69 cameras contracted through Flock Safety, positioned at intersections and high-crime corridors specifically to help track vehicles fleeing across jurisdictions, according to the Manteca Bulletin. That network reportedly logged more than 16 million scans in 2022 alone, per Atlas of Surveillance.
Flock Cameras Lead Police to a Stockton Business
Flock cameras led investigators to the suspects at a business in Stockton, the police report notes. Stockton's own camera investment made the cross-jurisdictional pickup possible — the city accepted $963,000 in federal grant funds in November 2024 to deploy 100 Flock Safety readers of its own, per the same Atlas of Surveillance database. Later that day, Stockton Police and San Joaquin County's AB109 Taskforce helped Manteca officers stop and arrest all five suspects.
The AB109 Taskforce is a joint unit of local police departments and county probation officers built to supervise and directly enforce against high-risk offenders released under California's realignment law, according to the San Joaquin County Probation Department. That law, Assembly Bill 109, was passed in 2011 after a U.S. Supreme Court mandate forced California to shrink its prison population by shifting supervision of non-violent felons to counties, per background compiled by Wikipedia.
Five Suspects Booked at French Camp Jail
All five suspects were booked into San Joaquin County Jail. Adult felony arrestees in Manteca are typically held at the John J. Zunino Jail Complex in French Camp, a 1,550-bed facility run by the county sheriff's custody division, and are usually arraigned at San Joaquin County Superior Court in Stockton within 48 hours, according to The Bulldog Law.
Police identified the five as 35-year-old Sahaj Singh, 27-year-old Gurlal Sandhu, 27-year-old Robinpreet Singh, 30-year-old Sukmeet Singh, and 26-year-old Taranbir Singh. Sandhu, Robinpreet Singh, Sukmeet Singh, and Taranbir Singh were each booked on kidnapping, conspiracy, and battery charges. Sahaj Singh faces the most serious exposure of the group, booked on attempted murder, conspiracy, kidnapping, assault with a deadly weapon, and terrorist threats.
What the Charges Could Mean
Under California Penal Code Section 207, simple kidnapping is a felony punishable by three, five, or eight years in state prison and up to a $10,000 fine, and it counts as a violent felony under the state's Three Strikes Law, according to Eisner Gorin LLP. Prosecutors would need to prove the victim was moved a substantial distance through force or fear without consent.
Sahaj Singh's attempted murder charge carries far steeper consequences. A conviction under Penal Code Sections 664 and 187 brings a sentence of life imprisonment with the possibility of parole, per the Manshoory Law Group, and requires establishing that he took a direct step toward killing someone with specific intent to end their life. His terrorist threats charge, under Penal Code Section 422, is a wobbler offense punishable by up to three years in state prison and also counts as a violent strike, according to the Kraut Law Group.
Manteca police said the case remains open and that they will not release additional information about what occurred or the specific roles each suspect played during the assault. The department is asking anyone with information to call Manteca Dispatch at 209-456-8101 and reference police report 26-04197. Sergeant Steve Beermann is listed as the press-release contact at 209-456-8143.
A Growing Surveillance Footprint
The arrests come as Manteca continues expanding its camera network. In August, the Manteca City Council authorized $55,000 over three years to add six new Flock Safety cameras in city parks, including Woodward Park and Library Park, aimed at deterring vandalism and other public safety concerns, according to the Manteca Bulletin. Whether that expansion factors into future investigations remains to be seen, but it underscores how central automated license plate readers have become to how Manteca and its neighboring agencies track down suspects who flee across city lines.
