A test drive in Houston took an unexpected turn when what was supposed to be a routine drive with a car salesman and potential customer turned into an attempted kidnapping.
Car salesman Jose Martinez recounted Monday's incident, saying the test drive started innocently enough but soon became suspicious when the potential customer drove past the dealership on the way back, reported CBS' Texas affiliate KHOU-TV. Martinez then asked for the keys but the man hit him instead. Soon after, two men pulled up beside them in another car and beat up Martinez, tied him up using tape and his belt and threw him into the trunk.
"I asked them why they were doing it while I was in the trunk. They told me to stop asking questions," said Martinez. "They were taping me up, and I said, 'Do you want money? What do you need? Let me go, you can have the car.' They said, 'No, you're coming with us.'"
"They were celebrating, laughing, saying, 'We got the car.' All that time, I got out of the tape almost instantly and got the belt off," he continued. "I called my GM, I let him know what was going on really quick. I sent a co-worker of mine who is a really good friend of mine, I sent him my current location and put my tracking on,"
After getting out, one of the suspects noticed what had transpired and confronted Martinez, pointing a gun at him. However, instead of backing down, Martinez proceeded to fight him and knocked the gun out of the assailant's hand, reported USA Today. Using that gun, Martinez shot one of his attempted kidnappers in the neck, prompting them to abandon the car on the side of the road.
"His friend came in and he had a gun. He dropped it, because he doesn't know how to fight whatsoever. I fired at him, and the other guy started running. The gun had no more bullets in it," Martinez said.
Police, flagged down by Martinez's friend who finally caught up with him, used the phone still inside the stolen red Dodge Challenger to track the suspects inside the vehicle. A chase ensued with the pursuit ending at a church where all three suspects had fled.
"One of my officers was on patrol," said Arthur Chatman, who does private security for a neighborhood around the dealership, according to CBS News. "He was flagged down by the victim's friend who had apparently tracked him here to this location stating his friend was kidnapped."
Police are now searching for the three assailants who are still at large.
