Former major leaguer ID’d as second driver in Grossman case






 

FRIENDSFormer Dodgers pitcher Scott Erickson and Rebecca Grossman together at a charity event in July 2020. The two were in separate cars and believed to be racing on Triunfo Canyon Road on the night Mark and Jacob Iskander of Westlake Village were hit and killed in a crosswalk. Grossman has been charged with second-degree murder; no charges have been filed against Erickson.                                                                 Courtesy photos

Rebecca Grossman’s white Mercedes-Benz was not the only vehicle heading down Triunfo Canyon Road on Sept. 29 as Mark and Jacob Iskander stepped off the curb and into a crosswalk.

Police have said a second car that Grossman was racing factored into the collision that left the two brothers, 11 and 8, dead and Grossman charged with murder. Multiple sources have confirmed to The Acorn that the driver of the second vehicle was former Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher Scott Erickson, a close personal friend of Grossman’s.

Authorities, citing confidentiality matters, have consistently declined to name the second driver, who was questioned the night of the crash and has not been charged with any crimes—but still could be.

“Our office is working with the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department to determine if the evidence supports the filing of additional criminal charges,” L.A. County district attorney spokesperson Pamela Johnson said on Wednesday.

Erickson could not be reached for comment.

Sources who know the pair say that Erickson, 52, and Grossman, 57, were driving in separate cars to a Westlake Lake home not far from the crosswalk where the Iskander brothers were hit. Grossman, a former magazine publisher and nonprofit chair, is charged with two counts each of second-degree murder and gross vehicular manslaughter, and one count of leaving the scene. She pleaded not guilty to all charges at a Dec. 31 arraignment in Van Nuys.

Police say Grossman, a Hidden Hills resident, was driving drunk and well in excess of the 45-mph speed limit when she hit the brothers and continued driving, stopping a quarter-mile away when the engine in her vehicle shut off.

Grossman’s attorney, Richard Hutton of Hutton & Khalaf, provided this statement: “My client, her family, all of us feel so bad for the victims’ family and everybody involved in this case. . . . She’s just broken up by what happened and continues to be so,” Hutton said of Grossman. “Eventually I think everyone will see what a good person she is. She’s done so much good for the community. She started a program to bring people over to this country who had significant burns, and arranged for them to have surgeries pro bono so that they could live a normal life.

“That’s what she’s all about, and the way she’s being vilified is just wrong. It’s not her,” the attorney said.

It’s unclear how long Grossman and Erickson have known each other but sources say the two were regulars on the local bar circuit. They were photographed together last July in Newbury Park at a fundraiser for the Grossman Burn Foundation, which Grossman co-founded in 2007 with her husband of 20 years, Peter Grossman. Dr. Peter Grossman is the medical director at the Grossman Burn Center, which was founded in 1969 by his father, the late Dr. Richard Grossman.

A person who was at the private charity event told The Acorn that Rebecca Grossman and Erickson arrived and left together. Asked about the nature of their relationship, the source said the two were believed to be just friends.

Erickson spent 15 years in Major League Baseball pitching for six different teams including the Yankees, Twins, Dodgers and Orioles. He won a World Series with the Twins in 1991. Before retiring in 2006, the California native made headlines when he married investigative journalist and prominent sports reporter Lisa Guerrero in 2004. The couple was recently divorced.

Since his playing days, Erickson has largely remained out of the public’s view, though in recent years he’s done work as a game analyst for the Pac-12 Network. He does have an active social media presence.

On his private Instagram profile, @amartinislife, Erickson shares his travels with near-daily posts that typically feature a full martini glass raised in front of various backdrops. Erickson, who is not visible in most of the posts, has shared photos from Las Vegas, New Orleans and Sacramento among other locales. Numerous shots have been taken locally, including in Westlake Village, Moorpark and Malibu (Zuma Beach). His profile showed a two-week gap in posts around the time of the collision.

He shared a photo on Sept. 28 and did not post again until Oct. 12.

James Bozajian, a former Los Angeles County assistant district attorney, told The Acorn it’s possible Erickson has been offered immunity in return for agreeing to testify at trial.

“They might want to use him as a witness, that’s a strong possibility. The other possibility is that the case against him for speeding or racing isn’t particularly strong,” Bozajian said. “They’d have to prove it beyond a reasonable doubt and if they can’t prove his participation in some kind of reckless activity then they wouldn’t (charge him).”

Follow Ian Bradley on Twitter @Ian_reports. Follow Kyle Jorrey @Kylebjorrey.