A man is under arrest after Santa Clarita Valley deputies say he followed his ex-girlfriend to her car in Saugus, grabbed her when she tried to get away, and forced her back into the vehicle before driving off with her inside. Deputies caught up with the man nearby after a short pursuit, and he was taken into custody once he fled on foot into the neighborhood.
According to ABC7 Los Angeles, the confrontation began Saturday night when the man followed his ex-girlfriend to her vehicle. Deputies say that when she attempted to get away, he grabbed her and forced her back inside before driving off with her in the car. A short pursuit followed, per authorities, before the vehicle stopped and the man ran on foot in the Saugus area, where deputies caught him and placed him under arrest.
Investigation Continues Into Saugus Incident
The investigation remains ongoing, and it is not yet clear what specific charges the Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office may file, what bail has been set, or whether any protective order had previously been in place between the man and his ex-girlfriend — details that have not been disclosed publicly. The Santa Clarita Valley Sheriff's Station, which handled the response, operates under contract with the City of Santa Clarita and covers Saugus along with Valencia, Canyon Country, Newhall, and surrounding unincorporated communities.
Under California Penal Code Section 215, carjacking alone is defined as taking a vehicle from someone's immediate presence against their will through force or fear, carrying a potential state prison sentence of three, five, or nine years. But if kidnapping is proven to have occurred during the commission of a carjacking, Penal Code Section 209.5 elevates the offense to an aggravated felony that can carry a sentence of life in prison with the possibility of parole. Simple kidnapping on its own, defined under Penal Code Section 207 as forcibly or fearfully moving a person a substantial distance without consent, is punishable by three to eight years in state prison.
Similar Cases Have Surfaced Before in Saugus
This is not the first time deputies in this stretch of the Santa Clarita Valley have responded to an alleged domestic abduction involving an ex-partner. In September 2020, Santa Clarita Valley Sheriff's deputies arrested a 26-year-old man in nearby Canyon Country on felony charges including carjacking, domestic violence, and kidnapping after he allegedly carjacked his ex-girlfriend with their infant twins inside the vehicle, according to KHTS Radio. Two months later, deputies responded to a family disturbance on Shadow Valley Lane in Saugus that ended in the arrest of a man accused of kidnapping his ex-girlfriend and their 1-year-old child.
Captain Brandon Barclay took command of the Santa Clarita Valley Sheriff's Station in August 2025 and now oversees field operations and criminal investigations across Santa Clarita and its unincorporated communities, including Saugus. Cases involving a former partner can also be charged separately under domestic violence statutes: California law allows prosecution under Penal Code Section 273.5 as felony corporal injury resulting in a traumatic condition, carrying up to four years in prison, or under Section 243(e)(1) as misdemeanor domestic battery, depending on the severity of the alleged conduct.
Domestic Violence Calls Remain a Persistent Statewide Issue
The Saugus case lands amid broader statistics showing how common domestic violence calls remain across California. A 2025 report by the Public Policy Institute of California, analyzing state Department of Justice data, found that law enforcement agencies statewide fielded more than 160,000 domestic violence-related calls in 2023 — an average of roughly 18 calls every hour. A separate FBI special report released in February found that violent crimes involving intimate partners and domestic relationships made up a growing share of reported violent incidents nationwide between 2020 and 2024.
Santa Clarita deputies have made headlines for several arrests this year, including a Valencia case in March in which a deputy stopped an attempted carjacking, and a January incident in which a parking lot tip led deputies to a wanted man. No further details on the Saugus suspect's identity or the condition of his ex-girlfriend have been released as the investigation continues.
