9-1-1 Crew Member Rico Priem’s Cause of Death Revealed
9-1-1 crew member Rico Priem, who died in a single-person car crash in May, suffered from a sudden cardiac dysfunction at the time of the accident, according to the Los Angeles County Medical Examiner.
Per Deadline, Priem had cardiomegaly (an enlarged heart) with left ventricle hypertrophy. His manner of death has been classified as “natural.”
Priem died May 11. California Highway Patrol previously told TVLine that the grip — who had just finished a 14-hour overnight shift in Pomona — 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 then-unknown reasons, went up an embankment and flipped onto its roof.
He was pronounced dead at the scene.
Following the accident, the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees (IATSE) released a statement saying, “We 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.”
Meanwhile, a statement from 20th Television 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.”
Three days after Priem’s death, 9-1-1 leading lady Angela Bassett addressed his 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.” She also disclosed that the cast and crew came together to remember Priem upon their return to work that week: “We thought it was important to come together and … offer whatever we can do [for] his family, because we know that we’ll miss him, but we know they will miss him even more.”
