Anton Yelchin who played Chekov in the re-booted Star Trek sci-fi franchise has been killed by his own Jeep Grand Cherokee after it rolled down his driveway at his home in Los Angeles. It has been reported that 27 year old Yelchin died after his Cherokee rolled backwards trapping him against an iron security gate and brick postbox pillar. It is believed Yelchin parked his Jeep Cherokee and went to check his mail, the unsuspecting Yelchin would not have realised the vehicle rolling towards him, he died shortly after 08:00 GMT on Sunday. The Jeep Gran Cherokee has suffered from a number of reported failures, the 2.5 ton vehicle has been subject to voluntary recalls worldwide due to a flawed gear-stick design. The gear-stick design is cited for making it easy for owners to forget it is in neutral when they leave the car. Investigators have found that the gear stick tends to spring back to neutral after being shifted to the park position. Yelchin was found by a friend, his body pinned to the gate by the Cherokee with the engine still running and the vehicle said to be in neutral. Fiat/Chrysler which make the Grand Cherokee enhanced the security warnings to notify the driver and re-programmed the settings to make sure the vehicle could not move under certain circumstances. Yelchin was born in Russia in 1989 just as Berlin Wall marked the beginning of the end of the Communist state. Yelchins parents fled to America sought and gained political asylum. Tributes poured in for the popular actor, he had just finished filming the third instalment of Star Trek.