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'Star Trek' actor Anton Yelchin, 27, dies in freak auto accident

By Allen Cone
Actor Anton Yelchin arrives at the 15th Annual Hollywood Film Awards Gala in Beverly Hills, California on October 24, 2011. File photo by Jim Ruymen/UPI
Actor Anton Yelchin arrives at the 15th Annual Hollywood Film Awards Gala in Beverly Hills, California on October 24, 2011. File photo by Jim Ruymen/UPI | License Photo

LOS ANGELES, June 19 (UPI) -- Actor Anton Yelchin, who played Chekov in Star Trek movies, was killed early Sunday morning after getting pinned by his car at his Studio City, Calif., home.

Yelchin also acted in Like Crazy and Alpha Dog, and was the voice of Clumsy Smurf in The Smurfs.

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When he didn't show up hours earlier for a rehearsal, Yelchin's friends went to his homearound 1 a.m. and found him pinned between his car and a brick mailbox pillar attached to a security gate, according to the Los Angeles Police Department. The engine was running and the car was in neutral, police said.

The driveway was on a fairly steep incline.

"It appears that he momentarily left his car, leaving it in the driveway. He was behind the vehicle when it rolled backward and pinned him to the brick pillar causing the trauma that led to his death," Jennifer Houser with the Los Angeles Police Department told CNN.

The sequel Star Trek Beyond has already completed production and is set for release next month.

"I had dinner with Anton Yelchin 2 nights ago we talked about shooting together and making movies he is a great guy very sad to see him go," screenwriter Tyler Shields said on Twitter.

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When he was 6 months old, Yelchin moved to the United States with his parents, Irina Korina and Viktor Yelchin, who were stars of the Leningrad Ice Ballet.

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