Watsonville man arrested for kidnapping children’s mother

A man wanted for kidnapping and assault led Watsonville police on a car chase Tuesday before crashing his vehicle into the curb at the intersection of East Lake and Blackburn and attempting to hid from officers, but was eventually hit with a stun gun and arrested.

Police said, earlier this month, Rudy Corpus held the mother of his two children captive for five days, beat her, emotionally abused her and threatened to harm her if she tried to escape.

Watsonville police said the woman came to the department last week with the allegations. She told police Corpus got into her vehicle while she was waiting at a red light. She reported that Corpus took her to two different locations in the City of Watsonville and held her against her will.

She said she was finally able to enter a business on Freedom Boulevard and request that an employee call the police, but initially didn’t want to file a report. Police said family convinced her to report the incident along with the stolen vehicle.

Corpus was taken to Watsonville Community Hospital for a medical clearance and later transported to Santa Cruz County Jail.