A 25-year-old San Francisco woman was booked on felony kidnapping and evading charges after allegedly leading a sheriff’s deputy on a six-and-a-half-mile chase up Highway 1 from Half Moon Bay to Pacifica with a passenger locked inside her car, and then telling the deputy she was Cleopatra.
A Bizarre Claim at the End of a Coastal Pursuit
Cristina Valdivia was booked last Saturday under booking number 0878814, with California Public Arrest Records listing felony kidnapping under Penal Code Section 207(a) among her charges. According to SFist, Valdivia was also charged with misdemeanor DUI, narcotics possession, possession of drug paraphernalia, and fleeing a police officer. San Mateo County District Attorney Steve Wagstaffe said Valdivia told the arresting deputy, “Officer, I’m Cleopatra. I’m the queen of Egypt,” and asked for help locating Julius Caesar before the deputy could even ask for her identification, according to a Peninsula Buzz report on Wagstaffe’s account.
Wagstaffe said the pursuit began last Saturday morning as Valdivia allegedly drove recklessly in Half Moon Bay with a passenger inside the car, then sped northbound on Highway 1 toward Pacifica. A sheriff’s deputy eventually stopped the vehicle in a Pacifica cul-de-sac, per SFist’s reporting. The stretch of Highway 1 between the two coastal towns runs roughly six to seven miles along steep ocean bluffs with limited shoulders, according to Caltrans.
Passenger Allegedly Locked Inside During the Chase
SFist reports that Valdivia allegedly locked the vehicle’s doors while the passenger was inside, and that the passenger reportedly told authorities he tried to get out of the car during the pursuit. Her vehicle also had a blown tire, and she allegedly continued driving north through San Mateo County from Half Moon Bay on the damaged wheel, per the same account. Under California Penal Code Section 207, simple kidnapping is defined as moving a person a substantial distance against their will using force or fear, an offense that carries three to eight years in state prison, according to the Shouse Law Group…