Most Americans have little love for cars salespeople – who rank somewhere between telemarketers and members of Congress on Gallup’s annual honesty/ethics poll. Yet there are plenty of honest, decent salespeople just trying to do their job, like 22-year old Jose Martinez, who saw some men checking out a Dodge Challenger at the dealership where he works. Turns out those men were there with ill-intent, kidnapping Martinez in an attempt to steal the car.
As KHOU reports though, Martinez was able to get ahead of his would-be captors, calling the police and escaping to freedom just minutes after the kidnapping attempt.
Martinez approached a man scoping out a Challenger and offered to take him on a test drive, though things immediately felt off. When Martinez tried to get the keys back, the driver punched him in the face. That’s when two other men pulled up in another car and tied Martinez’s hands together with tape and a belt, tossing him into the trunk and celebrating their ill-gotten gains.
Once in the trunk though, the quick-thinking salesman was able to get free and call his General Manager and the local police, as well sending him the GPS tracking info from his phone. At some point the thieves pulled over to check on Martinez, who managed to jump out of the trunk and run away. Another scuffle ensued, and somehow the salesman got hold off one of the assailant’s guns, firing a single shot that caused them all to flee.
It’s an insane story, and we’re happy that it happened to have a happy ending. No car is worth somebody’s life, not even a Dodge Challenger.