Armed husband clings to hood of car as kidnapped wife makes bold escape, Texas cops say

A Texas woman’s quick thinking helped her make a bold escape after her husband kidnapped her at gunpoint, according to police.

Officers responded to a 911 call about a kidnapping in progress at 7:13 a.m. on Saturday, March 30, the Brownsville Police Department said in an April 2 news release. The caller told police the victim’s husband, 37-year-old Martin Severiano Vela, had entered a house on the city’s northeast side and took his wife from the home by force.

Vela was armed, according to police. He aimed the gun at the witnessing homeowners during the kidnapping, ordering them to stay back as he forced his wife into a white Chrysler 300 and drove away, the department said.

Vela drove the woman to an abandoned property where he planned “to hurt her,” according to investigators. But when he exited the car to pull her out, she seized a fleeting chance to escape.

“She jumped into the driver’s seat” and put her foot on the gas, police said. But her husband was determined not to let her go, and he grabbed on to the hood of the car as she drove from the scene.

Moments later, police received another 911 call regarding a car at a Stripes gas station. A woman was inside the vehicle, screaming, while a man was on top of the hood, the caller said.

Officers arrived at the gas station and found the woman, but her husband was gone along with the Chrysler.

“Shortly after, the Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS) advised they were in a vehicle pursuit with a white Chrysler 300 that was driving recklessly,” police said.

Brownsville officers soon joined the chase, which police say ended with Vela crashing the car, then trying to hide in a shed on a nearby property.

Vela was arrested and booked into the Brownsville City Jail on nine different charges including aggravated kidnapping with a deadly weapon, aggravated assault, burglary of habitation, driving while intoxicated and evading arrest.

His bond was set at $212,000, officials said.

Brownsville is a roughly 280-mile drive southeast of San Antonio.

Gunmen open fire at Texas gas station, killing foreign politician’s son, officials say

Worried friend finds mom dead in her home, spurring homicide probe, Texas police say

Man enters wrong home, beats 80-year-old neighbor he thought was intruder, TX cops say

Man’s disturbing acts at grocery store lead to bestiality charges for wife, TX cops say