The parents of late "Star Trek" actor Anton Yelchin have settled their lawsuit against the makers of his automobile after it rolled down his driveway and killed him, family said Thursday.
The Russian-born actor, who was 27, died when his 2015 Jeep Grand Cherokee pinned him against a concrete mailbox at his house in Los Angeles on June 19, 2016 according to police.
"It is wrong, it's against nature when the parents bury (their) own child," Yelchin's father Victor said at a 2016 news conference announcing the wrongful death lawsuit.
Gary Dordick, attorney for Yelchin's parents, said funds from the undisclosed settlement would benefit the Anton Yelchin Foundation for young sick and disabled young people in the arts.
The settlement money will also help fund a documentary about Yelchin's life, according to the attorney.
Fiat Chrysler, which owns Jeep, issued a statement saying the company was pleased to reach an amicable resolution and that the details were confidential.
"We continue to extend our deepest sympathies to the Yelchin family for their tragic loss," it said.
Fiat Chrysler announced a recall of the car and other models in April 2016 after the US auto safety regulator said 117 crashes and 28 injuries had been linked to the vehicles rolling off freely when drivers thought they had locked them in "park."
The US National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said the fault was related to the design of the cars' automatic transmission gear shifts.
Victor Yelchin and his wife Irina alleged that the Jeep and its transmission system "possessed one or more defects in design, manufacture or otherwise which were known, or should have been known," according to the lawsuit.
According to the document, Yelchin was "crushed and lingered alive for some time, trapped and suffocating until his death."
The actor was best known for his role as Chekov in the recent series of "Star Trek" films.
But he appeared in almost 50 films from 2000, including "Alpha Dog," "Terminator Salvation" and the critically acclaimed 2016 neo-Nazi thriller "Green Room."
He was supposed to meet up with friends for rehearsal the day of his death, police said. When he did not show up, his friends went to his home and found him dead by his vehicle.
An only child, Yelchin was six months old when he moved with his family to the United States in September 1989. His mother was a figure skating choreographer and his father as a skating coach.
Also Watch: 2018 Mercedes-Benz S-Class First Drive Review | Cars18
Comments
0 comment