Texas mom is left outraged after car salesman came and took daughter, 27, with Down syndrome to dealership to buy Honda

A mother has been left outraged after a car salesman in Texas came and took her daughter with Down syndrome to a dealership to buy a Honda. 

Angie Martin, a working mother of seven, was shocked to come home on Tuesday night and not see Hope Martin.

She was told a sales person had picked up her disabled daughter and taken her to All-Star Honda to look at cars. 

'My heart’s beating faster just thinking about it. I got a text from her father, and he was like, "I got a couple texts from someone,"' Angie told KTAB.

Hope, who has a desire to drive, is said to have called the dealership multiple times and said she wanted to buy a car. 

Angie has discussed driving with her daughter but told her the decision is not up to her but state motor vehicle institutions.

Hope, 27, then went out to try and buy a car but her mother is furious the salesman did not recognize her daughter is vulnerable. 

'I was so angry that this had happened and that a strange man would have the audacity to come and take my daughter, who obviously is cognitively impaired, out of my home without my consent, let alone to do something so drastic,' Angie.

But she said she holds the management at the dealership mainly responsible rather than the salesman.

'You and I have inhibitions and limits and when we start to stray outside of them, we’re aware of it,' she said. 

'Hope doesn’t have those. I provide that externally for her…I’m always trying to thread that needle between her rights as a human being and her safety.'

All Star Honda vice president Nicholas Varela said it is not uncommon for people at the dealership to provide transport to potential clients. 

'Recently, an incident occurred that we feel it is important to address directly,' he said in a statement. 

'We are currently addressing this matter internally to ensure that we uphold the highest standards of inclusivity and respect. 

'As a family-owned dealership, we do our best to act in the best interest of our customers and deeply regret any harm this may have caused. 

'We apologize for any concern this may have caused and appreciate the community’s understanding and support while we navigate this matter.'

Varela said the dealership would have felt like they were violating Hope's civil liberties if they decided she was not fit to make a decision like that on her own. 

He added that they contacted her father and no payment would have taken place without a parent or legal guardian.

'What legislation attempts to do is to call us to a higher standard, not give us an excuse for our failures,' he added. 

But Angie responded: 'That’s not why it exists…I’m sure that they’re on the learning curve and that they’re rethinking things and examining things and I think that good will come of this.

She believes they are being 'self-protective' in their statement and did not match what she was told at the time. 

'[They told me] That their job is to sell cars, Hope wanted to buy a car,' the mother said. 

'Their job is not to discern whether someone is capable of buying a car, which brings up so many alarming questions like what about someone with dementia?' 

Angie called Abilene Police in response to the situation and she said officers spoke with their special needs experts and determined 'kidnapping is not kidnapping if someone agrees to go willingly'.

Hope's family picked her up from the car dealership a few hours after arriving and they have spoken to her about the incident.

'What would I change going forward? What do I want out of this? I want our community to do better to do right by our people with additional needs,' Angie said.

'They deserve to move about our community with some freedom and some safety and a lot of support.'

Staff at All-Star Honda will now be educated on procedure in similar situations, according to Varela.