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Woman arrested for abusing daughters while living in pickup
Ceres Cop Car

A 46-year-old woman who was apparently living in her truck with two children and seen hitting them inside of, was arrested on the Fourth of July for child abuse.

A bystander in the parking lot of the Kmart store reported seeing Sabrina Ann Dial, 46, of Ceres, striking her 8- and 9-year-old daughters while inside their white Ford F-150. The bystander first noticed Dial when she climbed out of the truck wearing no pants or underwear. The witness then said Dial got back into the truck and starting yelling profanities at the girls, calling them "bitches." Dial also began striking the girls with her hands and fist in the cab of the truck. She then honked the truck horn for long periods of time.

Officers Ross Bays and Charles Rushing were dispatched to the call at 11:23 a.m. and noted that it looked like the three had been living out of the pickup in squalor conditions. The pickup bed contained bedding and pillows and multiple belongings, covered by a camper shell too short for the long truck. It also had a shattered rear window. Dial herself was half clothed and told police that she had just been over at Cost Less Foods across the street to wash up.

The girls appeared to be scared and were dirty, disheveled, underweight, and appeared malnourished. Red marks and abrasions on their shoulders and necks indicated they had been hit.

Dial told Officer Rushing that she had come to the Kmart to buy the girls some clothing but that she did not have enough money and "Kmart points" to purchase everything the girls wanted. She said the girls threw a tantrum because she could not buy their shoes and hats. Dial said she responded by yelling and "honking the horn for 45 minutes."

When police began to arrest for child abuse Dial became uncooperative and combative with officers, cursing and attempting to spit and kick at officers.

The girls were taken to the Ceres Police Department where a Child Protective Services social worker came out and recognized Dial from prior cases. Both girls were put in protective custody while their mother was booked into the Stanislaus County Public Safety Center where she was booked for child abuse and indecent exposure.