Police say a customer tried to leave a Mascotte shop without paying and drove into a worker who blocked his path.
MASCOTTE, Fla. — The amount at the center of the argument was $95, but police say the confrontation it set off at a Florida tire shop left one worker dead and another man facing a vehicular homicide charge.
The case has drawn attention because of the sharp gap between the original dispute and the outcome. Investigators say Brandon Charles Gregory Lewis, 33, tried to leave Just Stop Tires on March 16 without paying for work done on his car, then drove into Ashley Tyer, 40, as she tried to stop him from leaving. Tyer died on March 21 after several days on life support, and Lewis is now being held on $500,000 bond as prosecutors prepare for the next hearing.
At the start, police say, this was a routine service transaction. Lewis brought a black Hyundai Equus to the shop for replacement tires. Coworkers later told reporters that once the work was done, the customer did not complete payment. One local report said he offered less than the quoted amount. Police and witness accounts agree on the larger point: the argument moved from the counter area back toward the car, where Lewis allegedly lowered the vehicle off the jacks himself and got behind the wheel. That moment mattered because it changed the dispute from a payment problem into an attempted departure. James Kelly, one of the workers, said employees believed they had enough information to identify the customer and did not expect the situation to spiral the way it did.
The lot then became the center of the case. Investigators say Lewis backed into another employee while trying to leave, reached the road and stalled. Instead of ending the confrontation, the stall kept it alive for a few more seconds. Police said Lewis got out of the car, accused the workers of breaking it, went to the trunk, then returned to the driver’s seat. By then, employees had recorded the license plate and were contacting police. Tyer moved in front of the vehicle as workers tried to keep the driver there. Authorities say Lewis accelerated, struck her and carried her onto the hood. Kelly later said the driver “just scooped her up.” Police said witnesses saw the car swerve, and Tyer was thrown off before Lewis left the scene.
That sequence is why the legal stakes are now far beyond a theft allegation. Police arrested Lewis after linking him to the car and to surveillance footage from the shop. He was charged with vehicular homicide, and officials said the investigation remains active, meaning the formal count filed now may not be the final shape of the case. Reports on his first appearance in court added another layer when prosecutors cited a previous Ohio conviction for negligent vehicular homicide. Local reporting also said his Florida driver’s license had been suspended since 2021. Those details gave the hearing a broader frame: prosecutors were not presenting the event as an isolated misjudgment but as part of a driving history they said raised concern.
The story also carries a workplace dimension. Tyer was not a passerby but a longtime employee at the business where the confrontation happened. Coworkers and the owner said she had worked there for seven years and was deeply tied to the daily life of the shop. In television interviews, those who knew her described someone who was both caring and forceful, comfortable in a tire shop environment and protective of the business. That context helps explain why she stepped into the path of a departing car. It also explains why the aftermath spread quickly beyond the criminal case. The shop became a gathering point for grief, and local reports said coworkers were organizing a barbecue and candlelight vigil to help her family.
Investigators say they later found the Hyundai in Polk County and stopped it. Police reported a cracked windshield on the passenger side and a dent on the same side of the hood, damage they believed was consistent with the collision described by witnesses. After being advised of his rights, police said, Lewis claimed he had been somewhere else and said he did not know Mascotte. Detectives said surveillance evidence contradicted that statement. Even so, some facts remain unresolved in public records so far, including whether the woman who was with Lewis will face any charge and whether the first impact involving another worker will result in a separate count.
Lewis remains in the Lake County Jail, and his next court appearance is scheduled for April 20. What began as a dispute over payment is now measured in hearings, evidence reviews and the loss of a worker whose coworkers say cannot be replaced.
Author note: Last updated April 16, 2026.