Former Dodger pitcher Scott Erickson, a co-defendant in a civil suit alleging his former girlfriend, Rebecca Grossman, ran over and killed two boys while driving about 80 mph on a Westlake Village street in 2020, testified Monday that he lied to authorities about how much he drank that night, but he denied the two were racing.
“I knew it was wrong,” Erickson told a Van Nuys Superior Court jury while explaining that some of his actions were an attempt to avoid liability.
By denying that he was racing Grossman, Erickson appeared to contradict the previous trial testimony of his former friend, ex-San Francisco Giants shortstop Royce Clayton, that Erickson told him that he and Grossman were “flying down” the street. However, Clayton said he could not recall if Erickson used the term “racing.”
Erickson also contended that he was not impaired and denied that Nancy Iskander, the mother of the slain boys, had to jump along with her surviving son, Zachary, out of Erickson’s way to avoid being hit by his car as she has claimed.
The plaintiffs in the civil suit filed in January 2021 are Iskander and her husband Karim as well as son Zachary. Along with Grossman and Erickson, they are suing the socialite’s husband, Peter Grossman.
The lawsuit filed in January 2021 contends that Rebecca Grossman and Erickson had cocktails and the two later engaged in a speed contest along Triunfo Canyon Road until they reached a crosswalk and the children were struck in a 45 mph zone on Sept. 29, 2020.
Erickson said he had been drinking alcohol daily for 10 years, but it did not affect his judgment the night the boys were struck. However, he admitted that he initially told traffic investigators he only had one drink prior to the crash, when he actually had one regular size drink and one jumbo size beverage, both alcoholic.
Erickson acknowledged that he was driving his 2016 high-performance Mercedes-Benz that night and that he regularly switched license plates with his older 2007 model for six years to avoid having to pay registration fees on the second vehicle. Erickson testified he drove both inside and outside of California with the phony plates — a practice called cold-plating — and that he now is in the process of making things right, having hit roadblocks regarding the title to the car in the past. He said he bought the 2016 car in Arizona in 2019.
Plaintiffs’ attorney Brian J. Panish questioned Erickson extensively regarding his statement that he and his lawyers discussed the testimony of Alexis Grossman, the Grossman couple’s daughter, on Sunday night. Erickson later changed his testimony to say they had discussed a photo.
Asked by Panish if he was charged with reckless driving, Erickson said, “Yes, I was charged.”
Erickson said he returned to the accident scene after driving away but did not tell police who he was. He admitted as well that he was dating Grossman at the time but she was separated from her husband and had her own home, but he acknowledged he had no evidence of a legal separation.
Erickson said he and Rebecca Grossman were in love and that he has never spoken to Peter Grossman.
Erickson said that despite what police were told, he did not try to hide from them after the boys were hit. He also said he did not object to coming to court to testify and that the past weekend he went to Mexico to spend time with his current girlfriend.
In their court papers, the Iskander attorneys contend that the 62-year-old Grossman, of Hidden Hills, tried to flee the scene and likely would have succeeded had her vehicle not automatically shut down due to it sensing the massive impact that had just occurred.
The philanthropist then lied to law enforcement about her speed and how much she had to drink, and contended she did not know why her airbag suddenly deployed despite her vehicle sustaining massive front-end damage, the Iskander attorneys further state. Grossman and Erickson have blamed each other for hitting the boys.
In March, a panel of the Second District Court of Appeal upheld the conviction of the Grossman Burn Foundation co-founder. Grossman was found guilty Feb. 23, 2024, of two counts each of second-degree murder and vehicular manslaughter with gross negligence and one count of hit-and-run driving in connection with the Sept. 29, 2020, deaths of Mark and Jacob Iskander, aged 11 and 8.
Grossman was sentenced to 15 years to life in prison.