The family of Star Trek actor Anton Yelchin has reportedly settled a wrongful death lawsuit with Fiat Chrysler over a 2016 rollaway crash of a Jeep Grand Cherokee that killed the 27-year-old in his driveway.
It’s believed to be the first wrongful death complaint that’d been filed over FCA’s April 2016 recall of 1.1 million vehicles that had a potential to roll away.
Terms of the settlement, filed in court on Tuesday, weren’t disclosed, according to Automotive News.
Yelchin, 27, best known for playing navigator Pavel Chekov in the “Star Trek” movie reboot, died in June 2016 when his 2015 Grand Cherokee rolled backward in the steep driveway of his Los Angeles home, pinning the actor against a brick wall and fence.
In a statement, Fiat Chrysler said on Thursday the company is “pleased that we’ve reached an amicable resolution in this matter ... We continue to extend our deepest sympathies to the Yelchin family for their tragic loss.”
At the time, FCA’s roll away problem had been linked to at least 266 crashes, leaving at least 68 people injured. “Drivers complained they would exit vehicles with the engine running falsely believing the vehicle was in park,” Automotive News said.
FCA later provided a software update to affected models. The recall included Jeep Grand Cherokee SUVS, from model years 2014 and 2015, as well as Dodge Charge and Chrysler 300 sedans made between 2012 and 2014, we reported at the time.