Anton Yelchin’s Parents to File Wrongful Death Suit Against Chrysler
The parents of Star Trek actor Anton Yelchin will file a wrongful death suit against Fiat Chrysler, Variety reports.
Yelchin, who played Chekov in the rebooted Star Trek series, died June 19th when his Jeep Grand Cherokee rolled backwards down his driveway and pinned him against a brick pillar. He was 27.
Yelchin’s 2015 Jeep was under recall after Fiat Chrysler and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration received numerous complaints about the gear shifter, specifically “rollaway” crashes caused when the driver thought the vehicle was in park but was actually in neutral.
Along with Fiat Chrysler, the attorney for Yelchin’s parents, Viktor and Irina, said the lawsuit would include the retail chain AutoNation, as well as ZF North America, the manufacturer that made the gear shifter. The Yelchins’ attorney, Gary Dordick, is expected to discuss the lawsuit at a press conference Tuesday.
Yelchin’s crash is still being investigated, but his car was on and in neutral when the actor was found in his driveway. The NHTSA is aware of nearly 700 complaints about the Grand Cherokee’s gear shifter, including 266 accidents, 68 of which involved injury. Yelchin’s is believed to be the only fatality related to the issue.
Along with his turn in the recent Star Trek films, Yelchin had appeared in movies like Green Room, Like Crazy and Alpha Dog, and TV shows such as ER, Curb Your Enthusiasm and Along Came a Spider.