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Police Arrest Suspect in Alleged Kidnapping of Woman in Petaluma

PETALUMA (CBS/AP/BCN) -- Police say a man has been arrested and is suspected of kidnapping a woman from a North Bay shopping center.

Authorities say Benjamin Sher, 28, of San Diego, confronted the woman in the parking lot of a shopping center on North McDowell Boulevard in Petaluma shortly before 3 a.m. Friday and kidnapped her.

Officers went to the parking lot but couldn't find the woman. Moments later, the victim called 911 from a home about five miles away on Western Avenue and said she had been able to escape after Sher crashed a car into a tree and then fled into open space near Helen Putnam Park.

Officers from the Petaluma Police Department and Sonoma County sheriff's deputies found Sher around 3:43 a.m. and he was arrested on suspicion of kidnapping, assault and drunk driving with bail set at $100,000.

It wasn't immediately clear if Sher knew the victim.

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