Now investigators are looking at the actor’s 2015 Jeep Grand Cherokee as the culprit in this freak accident. In a statement to ABC News, Jeep’s parent company said it was “conducting a thorough investigation”, into the accident, adding, “it is premature to speculate on the cause of this tragedy”.
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LA police told CBS News that it appeared Yelchin had not properly put the auto in park mode. There they discovered him pinned between his own vehicle and a brick pillar. The recall affected 2012 to 2014 Chrysler 300 sedans, 2012 to 2014 Dodge Chargers and 2014 to 2015 Jeep Grand Cherokees. The vehicles were on voluntary recall in the USA due to the flawed design of the gearshift lever that made it hard to distinguish between the neutral and the parking positions. “I find it nearly unbelievable that we’re now forcing this transmission to go into park when the door is opened”, he said. At the time, the company said it was aware of 41 injuries “potentially related” to the problem.
In April, the 2014-2015 Jeep Grand Cherokees were recalled due to complaints. The design, which uses a lever that always returns to a center position, can inadvertently be placed in neutral when drivers believe they’ve placed it in park.
As of the time of this posting, the investigation into Anton Yelchin’s death is still on-going. By Monday afternoon, the combination of his status as a talented young actor with a bright future and the tragic nature of his death was attracting global attention.
Winter says any toxicology results will take months to analyze.
His death tragically cut short the promising career of an actor whom audiences were still getting to know and who had great artistic ambition. Director J.J. Abrams, who cast Yelchin in the franchise, wrote in a statement that he was “brilliant. kind. amusing as hell, and supremely talented”.
Other films he starred in which still are to be released include Rememory, We Don’t Belong Here, Porto, and Thoroughbred.
The rapper and actor Drake, who had a cameo in “Charlie Bartlett”, posted this picture of him and Yelchin to his Instagram. “I loved the improvisation part of it the most, because it was a lot like just playing around with stuff”. Along with “Star Trek”, Yelchin was also known for roles in “Alpha Dog”, “Like Crazy” and “Terminator Salvation”.
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Fiat Chrysler has not yet commented on the matter.
