MANTECA, Calif — Manteca police officers arrested a man on after he allegedly attempted to steal a patrol car.
Adrian Whatley, 39, was a patient at an adult crisis facility on the 400 block of S. Airport Way. The facility called police after Whatley was reportedly causing a disturbance and breaking windows with rocks, according to a press release.
Around 8:15 a.m. on Wednesday, July 7, officers were on their way to the area when they were told that Whatley had left the facility on foot. Officers later found him at the overcrossing for Highway 120, where a passing driver said Whatley was throwing rocks at cars.
According to the press release, when Manteca police pulled up to Whatley, he ignored officers and headed for the patrol car. Whatley allegedly opened the driver's side door and tried to get in the car. An officer grabbed Whatley and the two struggled, with a back-up officer joining in. A stun gun was eventually used on Whatley to subdue him.
He was taken into custody, booked at the San Joaquin County Jail, and charged with attempted carjacking of a police car, throwing items at a moving vehicle, vandalism, and resisting an officer.
The incident has garnered some discussion on the Manteca Police Department's Facebook post announcing the arrest on whether this could have been a case handled by a social worker rather than officers.
It follows an idea Sacramento County Sheriff's Office recently had themselves with a Mobile Crisis Support Unit composed of a licensed mental health worker and a deputy trained in crisis intervention.
However, Asantewaa Boykin, a registered nurse and program director for Mental Health First, a mental health crisis response team made up of volunteers, and co-founder of the Anti Police-Terror Project, told ABC10 in a May interview these types of units are not the answer.
“The majority of 911 calls are really social calls. But we’re continuing to fund the police to answer social calls that A. They don’t want to answer and B. They’re not trained to answer," Boykin said.
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