Chrysler Tries To Blames Anton Yelchin for His Own Death in Rollaway Jeep

Image by Getty
Anton Yelchin’s parents have been told by a Chrysler dealership that it was their late son’s ‘misuse, misapplication, or damage’ of his vehicle that caused his untimely death.
The response comes after Viktor and Irina Yelchin, whose 27-year-old son was killed when a Jeep Grand Cherokee rolled backwards and crushed him death in June, filed a wrongful death lawsuit against the company.
According to TMZ , the Valencia, CA dealership has asked the judge to drop the lawsuit, claiming they should not be held accountable for his death. The celebrity gossip site added that legal documents from the dealer have attempted to hint that Yelchin had damaged the SUV by making changes to it after purchase.
The company also accused his parents of failing to preserve the vehicle as it was at the time of the accident.
In April, Fiat Chrysler recalled 1.1 million vehicles, including the 2015 Jeep Grand Cherokee that later killed Yelchin, because of a rollaway problem. When issuing the recall, the company admitted to a reported 41 injuries from the vehical flaw.
Yelchin’s parents continue the fight for justice for their son—and the safety of others.
“With unbelievable grief, we decided to come here to prevent other families with the same tragedy,” Viktor Yelchin said during a press conference about the lawsuit in August. “Anton was our only son – a remarkable human being. It’s against nature when a parent has to bury their own child.”
Thea Glassman is an Associate Editor at the Forward. Reach her at [email protected] or on Twitter at @theakglassman.
The Forward is free to read, but it isn’t free to produce

I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward.
Now more than ever, American Jews need independent news they can trust, with reporting driven by truth, not ideology. We serve you, not any ideological agenda.
At a time when other newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall and invested additional resources to report on the ground from Israel and around the U.S. on the impact of the war, rising antisemitism and polarized discourse.
This is a great time to support independent Jewish journalism you rely on. Make a gift today!
— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO
Support our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.
Most Popular
- 1
Culture Trump wants to honor Hannah Arendt in a ‘Garden of American Heroes.’ Is this a joke?
- 2
Fast Forward Why the Antisemitism Awareness Act now has a religious liberty clause to protect ‘Jews killed Jesus’ statements
- 3
Fast Forward The invitation said, ‘No Jews.’ The response from campus officials, at least, was real.
- 4
Opinion A Holocaust perpetrator was just celebrated on US soil. I think I know why no one objected.
In Case You Missed It
-
Opinion The secret cost of Israel’s wars ravaged my family. It’s only getting worse
-
Yiddish מחשבֿות פֿון אַן אַהיים־געקומענעם (אַ מלחמה־טאָגגבוך)Reflections of a soldier after returning home (a wartime diary)
דער מחבר איז אַ סטודענט אינעם ירושלימער העברעיִשן אוניווערסיטעט, אינעם צווייטן יאָר ייִדיש־לימוד
-
Fast Forward Why the Antisemitism Awareness Act now has a religious liberty clause to protect ‘Jews killed Jesus’ statements
-
News At Harvard, reports on antisemitism and anti-Palestinian bias reflect campus conflict over Israel
-
Shop the Forward Store
100% of profits support our journalism
Republish This Story
Please read before republishing
We’re happy to make this story available to republish for free, unless it originated with JTA, Haaretz or another publication (as indicated on the article) and as long as you follow our guidelines.
You must comply with the following:
- Credit the Forward
- Retain our pixel
- Preserve our canonical link in Google search
- Add a noindex tag in Google search
See our full guidelines for more information, and this guide for detail about canonical URLs.
To republish, copy the HTML by clicking on the yellow button to the right; it includes our tracking pixel, all paragraph styles and hyperlinks, the author byline and credit to the Forward. It does not include images; to avoid copyright violations, you must add them manually, following our guidelines. Please email us at [email protected], subject line “republish,” with any questions or to let us know what stories you’re picking up.