John Wick is grieving the death of his wife, Helen, from an illness. To help him cope, she arranged for him to receive a beagle puppy as a gift. A few days later, Wick is accosted at a gas station outside of New York City by a group of Russian gangsters, led by Iosef, who fail to intimidate Wick into selling them his 1969 Boss 429 Mustang. That night, the men break into Wick's home, beat him up, and kill the puppy before stealing the car. Iosef takes the Mustang to a chop shop to remove its identifying details, but the shop owner, Aurelio, recognizes the car and refuses service. Wick learns from Aurelio that Iosef is the son of Viggo Tarasov, the boss of the city's Russian mafia.
