Former Dodgers pitcher Scott Erickson charged in connection with fatal crash
Former Major League Baseball pitcher Scott Erickson has been charged in connection with a hit-and-run crash in Westlake Village that killed two young boys, a media report said Friday.
The Los Angeles County district attorney’s office alleges Erickson was driving recklessly with Rebecca Grossman on Sept. 29 just moments before Grossman’s car struck and killed the two boys, who were in a crosswalk at the intersection of Triunfo Canyon Road and Saddle Mountain Drive, KABC-TV Channel 7 reported.
Erickson, 51, was charged Wednesday with a misdemeanor count of reckless driving and is due in court for arraignment March 16.
“Mr. Erickson vehemently denies that he was driving recklessly or irresponsibility or that his actions in any way contributed to the tragic accident that occurred after he safely passed through the crosswalk in question,†his attorney, Mark J. Werksman, said in an email to The Times (Werksman had represented The Times in previous, unrelated litigation).
Grossman, 57, of Hidden Hills was charged Dec. 30 with two felony counts each of murder and vehicular manslaughter with gross negligence, along with one felony count of hit-and-run driving resulting in death. She could face a maximum of 34 years to life in state prison if convicted as charged, according to the district attorney’s office.
Rebecca Grossman, co-founder of the Grossman Burn Foundation, faces murder charges after a September car crash that killed two boys.
Prosecutors allege that Grossman drove at excessive speeds on Triunfo Canyon Road and struck 11-year-old Mark Iskander and his 8-year-old brother, Jacob, as they were crossing the street with their parents in a marked crosswalk.
L.A. County Sheriff’s Department officials said six family members were crossing the three-way intersection — which does not have a stoplight — in the crosswalk when the mother heard a car speeding toward them and both parents reached out to protect two of their children, but the two boys were too far out in the intersection and were struck. The older boy died at the scene and his 8-year-old sibling died at the hospital.
Grossman allegedly continued driving after striking the boys, eventually stopping about a quarter-mile away from the scene when her car engine stopped running, according to the district attorney’s office. Grossman was arrested by sheriff’s deputies the day of the crash and subsequently released Oct. 1 on bond. She remains free on bond — with one of the conditions of her bail barring her from driving, according to the district attorney’s office.
The defendant is the wife of Dr. Peter Grossman, who is the director of the Grossman Burn Center in West Hills and son of the center’s late founder, A. Richard Grossman. Rebecca Grossman is also a co-founder and chairwoman of the Grossman Burn Foundation and a former publisher of Westlake Magazine.
Erickson pitched 15 seasons in the major leagues, debuting in 1990. He pitched for six teams, including the Dodgers in 2005. He was a member of the Minnesota Twins 1991 World Series championship team and pitched a no-hitter for the Twins against the Milwaukee Brewers in April 1994.
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