Months after a fatal accident took the lives of two boys in Westlake Village, Los Angeles County, former Major League Baseball pitcher Scott Erickson was charged with misdemeanor misdemeanor in connection with the crime.
Investigators told ABC7 that Erickson was competing with socialite Rebecca Grossman moments before she fatally beat Mark Iskander, 11, and his brother Jacob, 8, on September 29.
Grossman reportedly continued to drive his Mercedes Benz for about 400 meters before the engine stopped running, the Orange County Register reports.
The police arrested her that night, and in December she was charged with two counts of murder, two counts of vehicular homicide with gross negligence and one charge of runaway and runaway driving resulting in death. She was later released on $ 2 million bond.
The boys were crossing the street with their parents on a marked crosswalk. After Grossman allegedly hit the pair, she dragged one by 30 meters on the car’s hood before hitting the brake. When the boy fell out of the car, Grossman allegedly ran over him again while she continued to drive.
Mark died on the spot and Jacob later died in the hospital.
Erickson, who played for teams like the New York Yankees and the Los Angeles Dodgers during his 15-season MLB career, and Grossman, a prominent local philanthropist, are close personal friends, according to the local newspaper Acorn Thousand Oaks.
Sources told the newspaper that the two are accessories on the local bar circuit, and people familiar with the pair added that on the night of the accident Erickson and Grossman were driving separate vehicles to the same house in Westlake Village.
Grossman, former Westlake Magazine editor and co-founder of the Grossman Burn Foundation, he is reportedly married to prominent plastic surgeon Dr. Peter Grossman.
Investigators initially said they suspected Grossman was driving while under the influence of alcohol, but officials did not charge her with DUI.
A statement from the district attorney’s office delivered to the Acorn read, in part, “The prosecutors designated in this case have filed charges that they believe are legally appropriate based on the evidence before them at the time of filing.”
If convicted, Grossman faces up to 34 years in prison, which Record reports, adding that she was released from prison on bail on October 1 – on the condition that she refrain from driving.
Erickson’s charge, however, carries up to 90 days in prison and / or a $ 1,000 fine, as Acorn. He is due to go to court on March 16 for prosecution.