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Burglary attempt ends in child abuse
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A mother called to a Turlock grocery store after her teenage daughter was caught stealing alcohol decided to dispense her own brand of justice and ended up being arrested for inflicting injury upon a child.

Around 11 p.m. Wednesday night, security personnel working at the Save Mart store on Lander Avenue caught a 15-year-old girl putting bottles of alcohol into her empty purse. Security called the Turlock Police Department to report the burglary and the girl’s mother. Before Turlock Police officers arrived to the store, the girl’s mother, Irma Fonseca, 46, of Turlock, showed up and proceeded to beat her daughter with a metal collapsible broom handle, according to Lt. Ron Reid of the TPD.

The store security officer was able to stop Fonseca’s attack, but not before she struck the teen twice, once on the arm and once on the hand, leaving visible welt marks, according to the police report. While talking with the police, Fonseca referenced a Bible passage from Proverbs, which she interpreted as, “discipline your child with a stick or rod to teach them the right way of living,” according to the police report.

Fonseca was booked into the Stanislaus County Jail on a charge of inflicting injury to a child. The 15-year-old girl was charged with burglary and released to a family member.