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Car salesman kidnapped during test drive

By Cox Media Group National Content Desk
Jan 5, 2016

A Houston car salesman was beaten and thrown into a trunk during a test drive on Monday.

However, Jose Martinez fought back, freeing himself from the trunk of the Dodge Challenger and fighting the would-be kidnappers before they fled, according to KHOU.

"He said, 'I fought mom.' I said, 'I know, you did good. You did really good,'" his mother Melissa Martinez, told KHOU"He wasn't just going to lay there and let them do whatever they wanted to do. I didn't raise him like that."


Martinez went on a test drive with a driver. Shortly after the drive started, Martinez noticed two men in another car following them. Then the driver stopped and all three men beat and shoved Martinez into the trunk of the car, according to KHOU.

While he was in the trunk, Martinez texted his manager, who started tracking the phone using an app. Martinez used the inside latch to open the trunk and jump out of the moving vehicle.

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The men dropped a gun while they tried to beat up Martinez, according to KHOU. He grabbed it and shot one of the men in the neck before they fled, according to KHOU.

Police used Martinez’s phone, which was still in the car, to track the vehicle. After a chase, which ended in a crash, all three men fled. They are still at large.

Martinez is recovering from fractures to his nose and cuts all over his body, according to KHOU.

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