Friends of Arizona man who died while changing a tire on Loop 101 are restoring his car

GLENDALE, Ariz. - Friends of an Arizona man who was struck and killed on Loop 101 in 2020 are putting his limited edition Subaru back together, hoping to heal from the experience.

They're also sending a message about DUI driving and the ripple effect it has.

Ryan Stewart's friends say he was the type of guy who wanted to motivate and encourage the people in his life.

"If you told Ryan a story about something you were struggling with, or an idea you had, he would always tell you to do it. He'd tell you not to worry about it, if you think that you won't succeed, that you just need to try," Parker Oviedo, his friend, said.

Another friend, Ravi Tomerlin, says, "He was a real genuine guy. He would, anybody he met, if they needed something, he would take care of them. He was just a genuine, genuine person."

Ravi Tomerlin

When Stewart moved to Phoenix from Florida several years ago, he made friends quickly with many local car enthusiasts who quickly came to associate him with his beloved limited edition Subaru.

"He was driving this, so everybody was naturally super excited. I mean, 209. They only made 209 of these, and that's for the whole world," Oviedo said.

While other collectors didn't want Stewart driving the limited edition car, he happily took it on cross-country trips and even racing events.

Stewart and his father planned to move to Arizona together, but tragically, his dad died before the move. Stewart mustered up the strength to move to Arizona alone.

Then, in May 2020, Stewart was killed when an impaired driver hit him while he was changing a tire near 67th Avenue and Loop 101 in Glendale.

For years, his friends felt lost as they saw the man who hit Stewart receive a negligent homicide sentence. They processed their grief without much direction.

Then, they got Stewart's car back a few years later.

"About eight months ago, I got the car back. His brother and I got the paperwork filed, and we were able to get it out of police evidence, and then it all came back," Tomerlin said. "It was very tough. It was like reliving it all over again, and it just came down to, what do we do with it?"

That question turned into a very special project – restoring Stewart's beloved car.

"We're trying to put this very totaled car back together through GoFundMe, my own personal money, my shop labor, my guys are volunteering time on it," Tomerlin said.

It's a chance to heal.

"We're hoping that through putting it back together as a community, that maybe all of us will feel a little bit of closure. We're really looking forward to taking the car to the track with Parker, myself, his brother driving around," Tomerlin said.

Parker Oviedo

Aside from closure, the friends are hoping to share Stewart's story as a way to keep his death from being just a statistic, a court case and a traumatizing memory.

"My dad was also there, so the issues that it caused for him and me have spread throughout my entire family. This crime has hundreds of victims if anything," Oviedo said. He was also at the scene of the crash, helping change the tire.

Stewart's loved ones hope telling his story can give perspective and make others think twice about getting behind the wheel while intoxicated. They encourage people to use rideshare services like Uber and Lyft instead.

"Help people understand how absolutely devastating driving under the influence is and that the consequences aren't just the person who's hurt, it's all the people around," Tomerlin said.

While the process hasn't been easy, they have Stewart's motivating voice pushing them forward.

"Knowing that it's not in this state anymore will just feel better, because now when we look at it, we're not reminded of the accident. We just get to be reminded of Ryan," Oviedo said.

Click here if you'd like to donate to the GoFundMe to help restore Stewart's Subaru.