In a late-night operation that unfolded shortly after midnight on Saturday, California police rescued eight children who had been abducted from Arkansas.
The police were tipped off by an alert citizen about a “woman displaying bizarre behavior” in a convenience store parking lot in Anderson, California. Responding to the tip, officers found 36-year-old Trista Fullerton with six of her biological children.
Fullerton was already wanted by the police. She had an arrest warrant for allegedly taking her eight kids away from their foster families.
Fullerton, who had lost her legal right to care for her children, told officers where to find the other two missing children. Police found them safe and have since returned all eight children to their foster homes.
RELATED: Police Bust Armed Felon, But Three Wrinkled Pieces of Evidence Are the Most Disturbing Find of All
Fullerton was arrested and is being held without bail in Shasta County Jail. “The Anderson Police Department would like to thank the Shasta County Sheriff’s Office for their assistance in this case, and thank the alert citizen who reported the incident,” the police said in an official statement.
Details about what constituted Fullerton’s “bizarre behavior” or how she was specifically captured were not released by the police.
This isn’t the first time Fullerton has been in trouble with the law. She was arrested last year in June on charges of domestic battery and for breaking a no-contact order with the father of her children.
Court records from June 2021 reveal that Fullerton was charged with intentionally causing physical injury to a family member, and she had a previous conviction for Domestic Battery in the Third Degree.
She pleaded guilty to these charges in July of this year and was sentenced to four years of probation.
Thankfully the concerned bystander had the where-with-all to make the call to police dispatch to report her. It is a reminder that if you witnesses something that just seems off, calling to report it may actually save lives.
TRENDING: Vast Majority of States Sue Meta: Social Media Platforms Addictive, Harm Youth Mental Health