RICHMOND, Va. — A Richmond man is seeking hope after his recently purchased car was stolen and totaled in a deadly wrong-way wreck.
Tyrone Taylor’s 2010 Chevy Malibu was taken while he stopped at a convenience store in South Richmond on Wednesday night.
"I just stood there in shock," Taylor said after discovering his car was missing. "First thing I did, I called the police."
Surveillance video from the store at the corner of Cowardin and Semmes Avenues showed what happened.
“I seen someone walk across the street, hop in my car and drive off,” Taylor said.
The armed security guard had stopped by the store before his shift. Due to the brutally cold weather, Taylor left his car running — but locked. He admits to making a mistake.
“I turned around from the register and unlocked my car so I could jump into it real quick," he recalled. "But when I came outside, I didn’t see nothing. Where it was parked, my car was gone.”
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Hours later, Richmond Police informed Taylor that his stolen car was totaled. However, he did not receive all the details until the next day when it was reported in the news.
State police said Taylor’s car was headed south in the northbound lanes of the Downtown Expressway when 35-year-old Ebony Washington slammed into a Subaru head-on.
The crash caused a chain of smaller accidents, and Washington died at the scene, according to troopers.
“This changed my life," Taylor said. "A lot of people are affected and changed by this, and I hope we can take what we need from this and move forward.”
WATCH: Armed security guard's stolen car was totaled in deadly wrong-way wreck
Taylor is familiar with moving forward, having faced his own hardships in the past.
“I went through a process in my life where I was walking for three years, catching the buses," he said. "Just like everybody, you know, go through hardships, but you've got to keep going and you've got things you've got to handle.”
After three years of walking, he finally saved enough money to buy his car.
“My father blessed me with a car," Taylor said. "We paid for it, fixed it up, put money into it. It was my car.”
Now, that car sits in pieces, and Taylor reflects on what it symbolizes for him.
As an aspiring gospel rap artist, his lyrics hint at his desire to overcome obstacles. For now, he emphasizes positivity.
“Move forward and pursue. Get your life right," he said. "Be positive. There's too much negativity going on out here.”
Taylor says his car was paid off, and he had only been driving it for about nine months.
As he walks to his own beat again, he prays it doesn’t take another three years to get a new or lightly used set of wheels.
This is a developing story. Email the CBS 6 Newsroom if you have additional information to share.
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