9-1-1 Crew Member Dies in Early Morning Car Crash: ‘We’re All Rocked By It,’ Says Angela Bassett

Keisha Hatchett
·2 min read
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A 9-1-1 crew member died in a car crash after working a 14-hour overnight shift on the ABC procedural, TVLine has confirmed.

Rico Priem — who was employed as a grip on the series — passed away early Saturday morning from injuries sustained in a single-person car crash after working late Friday night through Saturday morning. The crew had been shooting on location in Pomona, Calif.

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California Highway Patrol tells TVLine that Priem was driving north in his Toyota Highlander on the 57 Freeway at Via Verde Drive in San Dimas when his vehicle left the roadway for unknown reasons, went up an embankment and flipped onto its roof. Priem was pronounced dead at the scene. The cause of the crash, which was reported at 4:27 a.m. local time, is still under investigation.

A statement from 20th Television, the studio behind the show, read, “On behalf of the studio and everyone at 9-1-1, we send our sincere and deepest condolences to Rico Priem’s family and friends.”

Update: 9-1-1 front woman Angela Bassett addressed Priem’s passing in an interview at Disney’s annual Upfront event, telling Entertainment Tonight, “The studio, 9-1-1, we all extend our deepest condolences to his friends to his family. It was just a very, very sad moment. We’re all rocked by it, certainly.” Bassett said the cast and crew remembered Priem upon returning to work this week. “We thought it was important to come together and … offer whatever we can do to his family, because we know that we’ll miss him, but we know they will miss him even more.”

Per The Hollywood Reporter, the crew union IATSE Local 80, of which Priem was a member, noted that they are “fully committed to the safety and the well-being of all our members and express our heartfelt condolences to the member’s family. Workers have a reasonable expectation that they can get to work and come home safely. No one should be put in unsafe circumstances while trying to earn a living.”

9-1-1, which has been renewed for Season 8, is currently airing its seventh season on ABC. Seasons 1-6 aired on Fox.

Created by Ryan Murphy, Brad Falchuk and Tim Minear, the show’s ensemble includes Angela Bassett as Athena, Peter Krause as Bobby, Oliver Stark as Buck, Aisha Hinds as Hen, Kenneth Choi as Chimney, Jennifer Love Hewitt as Maddie, Ryan Guzman as Eddie, Corinne Massiah as May and Gavin McHugh as Christopher.

THR was first to report the story.

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