A Redding man beat a woman he knows and kidnapped her sister before being confronted by an armed citizen who noticed the victim was "in distress" at a nearby gas station, officers said.

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.

While searching the area, officers got a tip that Hulsey and the woman had been spotted at the nearby Win-River Mini-Mart and gas station, Cogle said.

As officers headed to the gas station, calls started coming in reporting a man there pointing a gun at another man, police said. Cogle said it turned out a citizen with a concealed-carry permit pulled his gun on Hulsey because he could tell the woman was there against her will, so Hulsey ran away through some fields.

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.

With the help of a helicopter and police canine Otto, officers eventually found Hulsy near some trees, Cogle said.

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.

The other woman had injuries to her leg and face and was taken to Shasta Regional Medical Center, officers said, while the kidnapping victim had minor injuries and went home with family. The woman who went to the hospital is getting help at One SAFE Place, Cogle said.

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

His booking picture wasn't immediately available.

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Alayna Shulman covers a little bit of everything for the Record Searchlight. In particular, she loves writing about the issues of this community through long-form storytelling. Her work often centers on local crime, features and politics, and has won awards for best writing, best business coverage and best investigative reporting in the California News Publishers Association's Better Newspapers Contest. Follow her on Twitter (@ashulman_RS), call her at 530-225-8372 and, to support her work, please subscribe.