Coworkers said the driver sped away after refusing to pay for used tires, leaving a longtime employee with catastrophic injuries.
MASCOTTE, Fla. — A woman who worked for years at a Mascotte tire shop was left on life support after coworkers said she was struck and thrown from a fleeing customer’s vehicle during a dispute over payment for used tires earlier this week.
A violent confrontation over a $95 tire job has become a criminal investigation in Lake County, with police still trying to locate the driver and coworkers describing the injured employee, Ashley Tyer, as the center of a small business now shaken by her absence. The case has drawn attention because witnesses say the driver sped off from a neighborhood tire shop, then kept going even after Tyer ended up on the hood.
According to coworkers, the incident began after a customer arrived at Just Stop Tires on West Myers Boulevard for used tires. James Kelly, who worked alongside Tyer, said he had finished the job and expected the customer to come inside and pay. Instead, Kelly said, the man lowered the jack, got into the vehicle and tried to leave. Kelly said the car moved out of the business and onto the road, then stalled briefly. In those moments, he said, workers believed they had enough information to identify the customer and the vehicle. “We have the tag. We have the car. We have his name. We have everything,” Kelly said as he described the seconds before Tyer moved in front of the car.
Kelly said Tyer tried to stop the driver from leaving and was lifted onto the hood when the vehicle surged forward. He said the driver then traveled about half a block before turning a corner, and Tyer was thrown from the car. Another local report said surveillance video showed the driver nearly hitting another employee as he sped away. Kelly recalled seeing the aftermath and realizing how badly she was hurt. He said the image has stayed with him and that the trauma of the moment has been difficult for the staff to process. Police have not publicly identified a suspect, and authorities have not released additional details about possible charges, whether warrants are pending, or whether investigators have recovered the vehicle.
Tyer had worked at the shop for seven years, according to coworkers and the owner, and the people around her described her in personal terms that went beyond a job title. Roy Cruz, the owner of Just Stop Tires, called her the heart of the business. Kelly said she was tough, loyal and deeply invested in the shop’s daily life. Those descriptions have shaped the response at the business, where coworkers have spoken less about a workplace dispute than about the sudden loss of someone they considered family. One of the details they return to is a large old tire outside the building that Tyer had started turning into a flower bed. Kelly said he has continued that project as a tribute.
The case also reflects the uncertainty that often follows fast-moving shopfront confrontations. Witnesses gave accounts of what they saw, but several important points remain unresolved. Police have not publicly detailed the exact sequence of contact between Tyer and the vehicle, whether the driver knew she was still on the hood at every moment, or whether there were earlier verbal exchanges that could become part of the case record. Investigators also have not publicly said whether the suspected theft will be handled as a theft, a hit-and-run, a vehicular assault case, or under some combination of charges if an arrest is made. For now, the most immediate fact remains Tyer’s medical condition and the search for the driver.
At the shop, coworkers have described the scene in emotional, practical terms: unfinished work, a painted tire by the building, and a business trying to keep operating while waiting for news. Kelly said Tyer would not have wanted people around her to collapse in grief, even as he openly struggled to describe what happened. He remembered her as someone who could outwork nearly anyone at the shop and who cared intensely about the place. The language from coworkers has been blunt, but the message has been consistent: they believe the driver should have stopped and should face consequences. That sense of outrage has spread beyond the business as local media coverage pushed the case into a wider Central Florida audience.
The investigation remained open Saturday, with Mascotte police saying no arrest had been announced and that officers were working with other agencies to bring the driver to justice. The next major development is expected to be either a suspect announcement or a formal update from investigators on the status of the search.
Author note: Last updated March 23, 2026.