‘L.A.’s Finest’ Showrunner’s Leg Partially Amputated After On-Set Injury

Brandon Sonnier, who was injured on the set of L.A.’s Finest along with co-showrunner Brandon Margolis last week, underwent a partial leg amputation, Deadline reports.

Sonnier and Margolis were both injured during a car stunt scene and rushed to the hospital last Thursday. Margolis was quickly released, but Sonnier’s injury was reportedly so severe that he had to have one of his legs amputated just below the knee. Deadline reported Wednesday that he remained hospitalized and surrounded by family.

Sonnier, Margolis and other producers were in the video village area on the San Pedro set of the upcoming show, watching a car stunt scene on monitors. A stunt car crashed into a cargo crate, with the container and/or the car smashing into the video village, which had been set up behind the crate, sources told the news outlet. Crew members on set immediately feared for Sonnier’s leg that may have been pinned.

Questions about the unfortunate incident, like why the video village was set up so close to the stunt scene, prompted an investigation by Cal/OSHA. Its findings will likely help explain mounting questions.

“Cal/OSHA was notified by Mesquite Productions and LA Port Police on Thursday of a workplace accident that occurred on set during the filing of L.A.’s Finest in San Pedro. Today Cal/OSHA opened an inspection of Mesquite Productions,” agency spokesman Luke Brown told Deadline.

The crash occurred around 1:35 p.m. last Thursday near Warehouse One at the Port of Los Angeles in San Pedro.

Production on the series was halted both Thursday and Friday after the incident; it’s unclear if production resumed this week.

L.A.’s Finest is a spinoff from the Bad Boys movie franchise starring Gabrielle Union and Jessica Alba. The upcoming series, set to premiere on Spectrum, was Sonnier’s big break after signing a two-year overall deal with Sony Pictures Television in August with Margolis. The two made their way up at Sony since starting as staff writers on The Blacklist; L.A.’s Finest is their first series as creators.

In L.A.’s Finest, Union reprises her Bad Boys II role of Syd Burnett, a police detective with a complicated past who relocates to Los Angles from Miami, finding an odd partner in Alba. Alba plays Nancy McKenna, a working mom envious of Syd’s off-the-job freedom.

L.A.’s Finest is set to premiere on Monday, May 13 on Spectrum.

Photo credit: Clayton Chase / Contributor / Getty