Ex-Dodger Denies Street Racing In Crash That Killed 2 Young Boys

WESTLAKE VILLAGE, CA — Former Major League Baseball pitcher Scott Erickson has been charged with reckless driving in connection to the hit-and-run that killed two Westlake Village brothers, aged 8 and 11.

The Los Angeles County District Attorney alleged Wednesday that Erickson, 51, was racing with Rebecca Grossman on Sep. 29, just before she fatally struck Mark and Jacob Iskander, ages 11 and 8, while they were crossing a crosswalk with their parents at the corner of Triunfo Canyon Road and Saddle Mountain Road.

Erickson, a former pitcher for a number of teams including the Los Angeles Dodgers, New York Yankees, and Minnesota Twins, was charged with one misdemeanor count of reckless driving. This was a standalone charge, unrelated to the second-degree murder charges brought against Grossman. He will be arraigned March 16 in Van Nuys.

Mark Werksman, Erickson's attorney, denied the charges to City News Service.

"He wasn't racing. He's charged with one count of reckless driving. He had nothing to do with this accident, really, he didn't, and any suggestion that he did is just false," Werksman said. "If the D.A. or the sheriff had thought he had been racing Rebecca Grossman at the time she hit these children, he'd be a co-defendant with her."

The criminal complaint includes only a single count of reckless driving on a highway, and cites the penal code section about "willful or wanton disregard for the safety of persons or property," according to City News Service. No victims are mentioned.

On Jan. 20, The Acorn reported that multiple sources had confirmed that Erickson, a close friend of Grossman, was the person inside a second car. Sources familiar with the pair told the newspaper that Grossman and Erickson were headed in separate vehicles to the same lakeside home in Westlake Village. Police told The Acorn that the two engaged in a "speed contest" while they were turning from Lindero Canyon Road onto Triunfo Canyon Road.

Sources told The Acorn that Grossman, the 57-year-old co-founder of the Grossman Burn Foundation and former publisher of Westlake Magazine, was a regular at bars with Erickson. The two were photographed together in July 2020 at a Newbury Park fundraiser for the Grossman Burn Foundation.

The District Attorney's Office has claimed that Grossman was driving over the 45-mph speed limit when she hit the brothers and continued driving, stopping about a quarter-mile away from the site after her car engine stopped running. She was arrested the day of the crash and remains free on bond, though she is no longer allowed to drive, according to the District Attorney's Office.

Initial reports said that Grossman was driving under the influence, but she has not been charged with a DUI. Instead, she pleaded not guilty Dec. 30 to two felony counts each of murder and vehicular manslaughter with gross negligence, as well as one felony count of hit-and-run driving resulting in death.

Grossman could face a maximum of 34 years to life in state prison if convicted as charged, according to the Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office. She is scheduled to return to court Feb. 16. She is free on $2 million bail.

— Michael Wittner and City News Service contributed to this report.

Related coverage:

Grossman Pleads Not Guilty To Murder Charges

Two Brothers Killed In Westlake Village Crash