Concealed Carrier Thwarts Kidnapping And Sexual Assault After Noticing Woman In Distress, Holds Suspect At Gunpoint

REDDING, CALIFORNIA — An armed citizen carrying a concealed firearm, in California nonetheless, noticed a woman who appeared to be in distress and used his best judgement to enter into the situation.

That situation could have turned very bad, as he was unaware at the time that he was walking into an active kidnapping and sexual assault.

The suspect, just moments before, had beaten a woman that he knew and then kidnapped her sister. Who knows how it would have ended if the armed citizen hadn’t intervened.

Police said it all started shortly before 6 p.m. Thursday, when people began reporting that a man was fighting with two women on the lawn of a home on the 2000 block of Westwood Avenue.

Sgt. Todd Cogle said the suspect, 44-year-old Carl Dudley Hulsey, was gone by the time officers got to the scene, and one of the women he’d attacked told them he’d also assaulted her sister and driven off with her. 

via redding.com

While police were searching for the suspect and the kidnapped woman, they received a tip that they were spotted at a nearby gas station.

As they headed to the gas station, calls started pouring in that described a man holding another man at gunpoint. That man turned out to be a concealed carry permit holder, who knew something was off and made the decision to get involved.

The woman was still in the vehicle and told officers Hulsey had assaulted her, tried to steal her car and drove away with her against her will. Hulsey also tried to sexually assault the woman in that time, Cogle said. 

Both women received injuries, and were treated at the hospital.

Police say that while it’s rare that citizens get involved on that level, it does happen from time to time.

Redding Police Sgt. Brian Torum said citizens don’t necessarily intervene with crimes that often, but in this case, it was clear that the woman needed help.

“If people are good people and they’re brave enough to do it and they see something is clearly amiss, you know, sometimes it happens. We don’t see it a whole lot because a lot of times, crimes don’t go to a level where people feel like they need to,” Torum said.

Hulsey faces a multitude of charges, including domestic violence, assault with a deadly weapon, carjacking, kidnapping, sexual battery and resisting arrest.

An armed citizen is more of a rarity in California than compared to a large portion of the Country, and we’re incredibly happy to hear that he was at that location, at that time, and made the decision to get involved.

He could have very easily saved this woman’s life, and at the very least, helped get her out of a very dangerous situation.

Here’s to the armed public.