Former MLB pitcher Scott Erickson testified this week that he hit sped up when he noticed two younger boys in a Westlake Village crosswalk moments earlier than they had been fatally struck in 2020.
“I stepped on the gasoline for most likely two or three seconds to get by means of, as a result of I assumed that was the most secure course of,” Erickson advised a Van Nuys courtroom on Could 13 through the wrongful demise trial tied to the deaths of brothers Mark and Jacob Iskander, 11 and eight.
Simply after 7 p.m. on September 29, 2020, the boys had been crossing Triunfo Canyon Highway with their mom and youthful brother when witnesses noticed automobiles racing towards them.
Erickson, behind the wheel of a black SUV, reached the crosswalk first. Moments later, Rebecca Grossman, his girlfriend on the time, allegedly plowed by means of in her white Mercedes, placing and killing the youngsters.
Grossman, co-founder of the Grossman Burn Basis and spouse of plastic surgeon Dr. Peter Grossman, was allegedly driving 73 mph in a 45-mph zone when the crash occurred.
Nancy Iskander stated she grabbed her youngest son and dove out of the best way of Erickson’s SUV earlier than seeing Grossman’s car pace by means of the place Mark and Jacob had been standing.
Erickson testified he was touring between 50 and 55 mph, although he admitted, below questioning from lawyer Brian Panish, that the estimate was unsure.
“So that you’re simply guessing what your pace was?” Panish requested.
“Sure, I’m,” Erickson replied.
After passing by means of the intersection, Erickson stated he continued to Grossman’s close by residence earlier than receiving a name from her moments later, saying one thing horrible had occurred.
“Did you see the boys?” he recalled asking.
He testified Grossman might have responded with one thing like “the boys,” although he later acknowledged she additionally might have stated, “what boys?” or “there have been boys?”
Erickson stated he then ran again towards the crash scene, stopping when he noticed Grossman’s wrecked SUV and watching from the roadside whereas making calls to former MLB participant Royce Clayton and others.
Erickson additionally admitted to mendacity to visitors investigators about how a lot he had needed to drink that night time in addition to switching plates on his 2016 high-performance Mercedes-Benz along with his older 2007 mannequin for six years to keep away from paying registration charges on the second car.
Earlier within the trial the previous Dodger participant admitted to deleting messages between him and Grossman after the accident and likewise confessed that he didn’t come ahead to authorities about his involvement till police contacted him per week after the crash.
He testified that he didn’t know whether or not the WhatsApp messages may have been essential proof.
In 2024, a jury discovered Grossman responsible of two felony counts of homicide, two felony counts of vehicular manslaughter with gross negligence, and one felony rely of hit-and-run driving leading to demise.
Steamy WhatsApp messages between the 2 reckless drivers present the couple coordinating their tales whereas exchanging “I like yous” as prosecutors beforehand tried to unravel what occurred on the night time the socialite mowed down two little boys in a crosswalk.
The messages between the convicted killer and ex-MLB pitcher emerged in a bombshell civil lawsuit over the horrific crash.
Spanning 4 years, the messages — now a part of the Iskanders’ wrongful demise lawsuit — present the lovers in fixed contact, at the same time as Grossman’s protection claimed Erickson was the one behind the wheel that killed the boys.
The messages surfaced as Grossman fought to overturn her double homicide conviction. She was sentenced to fifteen years to life in jail.
In March, her hopes had been dashed when a California appeals court docket rejected her ultimate try to reverse the 2024 verdict, making certain she stays behind bars.
