Anton Yelchin, ‘Star Trek’ Actor, Dies In Freak Car Accident At 27

Anton Yelchin, who was a scene-stealer as Chekov in the new Star Trek films, died in a freak accident involving his car early Sunday morning. He was 27.

How Did Anton Yelchin Die?

Yelchin was killed in the early hours of Sunday morning when his 2015 Jeep Grand Cherokee pinned him against a brick mailbox outside of his Los Angeles home, Los Angeles police told CBS. According to investigators, it appears as though Yelchin failed to properly put the vehicle in park, leaving it in neutral as he exited it.

On Saturday evening, Yelchin was meant to meet up with friends for a rehearsal. Not knowing what had kept Yelchin and unable to get into contact with him, his friends traveled to his house, where they found him dead from his injuries.

Yelchin’s Jeep is among those that Fiat-Chrysler has recalled due to its confusing e-shift transmission. The electronic shift levers have apparently caused numerous accidents, leading the car company to issue the recall earlier this year and to do away with the feature on future cars.

While Yelchin is best known for his work in the Star Trek franchise, the Russian-born actor has a number of other credits to his name. His other feature films include, Green Room, Broken Horses, Experimenter, Cymbeline, Like Crazy and Alpha Dog. Before breaking out in movies, Yelchin had appeared on TV in Criminal Minds, NYPD Blue, Curb Your Enthusiasm, Without a Trace, The Practice and Judging Amy.