Production on Power Season 6 has been temporarily shut down after the tragic accidental death of a crew member early Monday morning, Deadline reports.
Production assistant Pedro Jimenez was setting up traffic cones for a location shoot in Brooklyn for the Starz crime drama at around 4:30 a.m. on Monday when he was struck by an SUV reportedly driven by a member of the production. The NYPD is investigating the incident and has questioned the driver.
“We are deeply saddened by the loss of one of the members of our Power family,” a Starz spokesperson told Deadline on Monday. “Our thoughts are with Mr. Jimenez’ family as we work to fully understand what has happened.” Jimenez, who was 63, was pronounced dead at Brooklyn Hospital Monday morning. He had worked on the show since it started in 2014.
Production on Power has been halted out of respect for Jimenez and to give other crew and cast members time to grieve as the investigation continues. A date of resumption of production has not been set, but the show was scheduled for a holiday break later this month so production might not start back up until early next year, according to Deadline.
There have been a handful of fatal accidents during film and TV productions in recent years, including stunt performer John Bernecker‘s fall on The Walking Dead, stunt performer Joi Harris’ motorcycle accident on the set of Deadpool 2, and the train accident that claimed the life of camera assistant Sarah Jones on the set of movie Midnight Rider, for which director Randall Miller was convicted of involuntary manslaughter.