Jerry Fuchs dead after elevator shaft fall

NEW YORK, Nov. 9 (UPI) -- A musician who played with the rock bands LCD Soundsystem, !!!, Maserati and The Juan MacLean died after falling down a New York elevator shaft, police said.

Drummer Jerry Fuchs, 34, plummeted five stories Sunday after he attempted to climb out of a freight elevator that became stuck in a Brooklyn building, the New York Post reported.

Although another man who was with Fuchs leaped and landed safely, the Georgia-born musician's clothing apparently got caught on the lift as he was jumping, dragging him back under it, the Post said.

"We found him in the elevator shaft," Fuchs's roommate Alex Frankel told the newspaper. "He was no longer able to speak."

Frankel said Fuchs had called friends shortly before he fell to tell them he was stuck in the elevator after attending an event to benefit The Uniform Project, a charity that aids the impoverished children of India.

He died of his injuries at Bellevue Hospital at 3:30 a.m. Sunday, the Post said.

"It is with overwhelming sadness that we bid farewell to our drummer and dearest friend Gerhardt 'Jerry' Fuchs," a statement posted on Maserati's Web site said. "Jerry died in a tragic accident early (Sunday) morning ... when he fell down an elevator shaft near his home in Brooklyn, N.Y. We are humbled to have been able to create music with you for all these years, Jerry. You will be missed more than words can express. We love you, bro."