On Wednesday, Scott Erickson, a former World Series champion, openly admitted to lying about his alcohol consumption on the day of a tragic car accident that resulted in the loss of two young brothers’ lives. This revelation unfolded as he testified in court regarding the fatal collision linked to convicted child killer Rebecca Grossman.
Erickson, who has a prior DUI conviction from 12 years ago, acknowledged having consumed a beer and two tequila cocktails, including a double, prior to the incident. Under questioning from attorney Brian Panish, Erickson conceded that he had not been truthful with police about the amount he drank. When asked directly by Panish if he had lied and withheld information, Erickson confirmed, “Yes.”
During his testimony at Van Nuys Court, near Los Angeles, Erickson, dressed in a black suit and white shirt, with his dark hair slicked back, was on the stand for the second day. He and Grossman, 64, are defendants in a civil wrongful death trial, accused of causing the deaths of 11-year-old Mark and 8-year-old Jacob Iskander.
Earlier in the week, Erickson had denied allegations that he and Grossman, a wealthy socialite, were racing their Mercedes SUVs when Grossman’s vehicle struck the children at a pedestrian crossing in Westlake Village in September 2020, resulting in their fatal injuries.
Erickson, 58 – wearing a black suit and white, open necked shirt with his dark hair slicked back – was in the witness box in Van Nuys Court, near Los Angeles, for his second day of testimony in the civil wrongful death trial where he and Grossman, 64, are accused of causing the deaths of brothers Mark, 11, and eight year-old Jacob Iskander.
Erickson claimed Monday that he and the wealthy socialite were not ‘racing’ their Mercedes SUVs when her car slammed into the children, fatally injuring them, at a pedestrian crossing in Westlake Village in September 2020.
Grossman, was sentenced to 15 years to life in prison after jurors at her February 2024 criminal trial convicted her of two counts each of second degree murder and vehicular manslaughter, plus one of hit-and-run.
Erickson – who played for six MLB teams during his 15-year baseball career, winning the World Series with the Minnesota Twins in 1991 – vehemently denies any responsibility for the horrific pile-up and insists he was not under the influence of alcohol at the time of the crash.
Scott Erickson confessed Wednesday that he lied to cops about how much he had to drink before the crash that killed brothers Mark, 11, and eight year-old Jacob Iskander.
Erickson, a former baseball star, vehemently denies any responsibility for the horrific pile-up for which his former lover, Rebecca Grossman is serving at least 15 years in prison
On Wednesday, when Panish – lead attorney for the parents of the dead boys – asked Erickson how he knew he was not affected by the alcohol he consumed that day, he told the jury of eight women and four men, ‘I could tell – I was not impaired.’
Under grilling from Panish, Erickson admitted that 12 years ago he was convicted in Lake Tahoe, Nevada of DUI in a case where ’his alcohol level was so high that for a year afterward, his vehicle was fitted with a device that he had to blow into (to make sure he had no alcohol in his system) before he drove.’
He conceded that even after that conviction he ‘continued to drive after drinking.’ But he denied a claim by Grossman’s teen daughter, Alexis, that on the night of the deadly crash, when she saw Erickson later, she smelled alcohol on his breath.
‘That was three hours after I had been driving,’ protested the ex-pro pitcher who also denied that he threatened Alexis that night, saying he would ‘ruin’ her family if she told anyone that she had seen him after the crash.
Erickson – who admitted to making ‘Drink of the Week’ posts on Instagram in which he tells viewers, ‘how to make cocktails and how to enjoy them’ – disputed the accounts of several eye witnesses who testified that he and Grossman were ‘racing’ at 80-100mph before she killed the boys on the crosswalk.
He estimated that he was only traveling at about 50-55mph in the 45mph speed limit.
But when Panish asked him, ‘If you were driving at 80 miles an hour after drinking alcohol, would that show a conscious disregard for the rights and safety of pedestrians? Erickson said, ‘Yes.
Erickson admitted deleting many of the texts he shared with Grossman in the days and months, even years after the crash, but he insisted that he was not trying to ‘avoid responsibility for what happened‘ and he never asked Grossman about her version of how the tragedy occurred.
Erickson and Grossman are facing a civil wrongful death suit for the fatal crash that killed the brothers (pictured)
Grossman’s Mercedes is pictured after the smash. She kept on driving, despite the obvious damage caused to the car after she struck the boys
When Panish asked, with a disbelieving smile, ’So in four years after the crash, you never asked Rebecca Grossman what happened? ‘ he said ’No.’
And when Panish questioned, ‘Did Rebecca Grossman ever tell you that her car hit the boys and killed them?’ Erickson again said ‘No.’
Grossman’s attorneys at her criminal trial blamed the deadly crash on Erickson, who was driving his black Mercedes just ahead of Grossman, shortly after the two had shared margaritas at a local bar.
But the 6ft 4in former ballplayer – who didn’t show up at Grossman’s six-week criminal trial – was only charged with misdemeanor reckless driving and that was dismissed after he made a public service announcement on the importance of safe driving.
Despite the lack of criminal charges against Erickson, the dead kids’ parents, Nancy and Karim Iskander – who are seeking ‘tens and tens and tens of millions’ in damages for the loss of their beloved boys – say he shares equal responsibility with Grossman for the fatal crash.
Nancy and Karim Iskander are seeking ‘tens and tens and tens of millions’ in damages for the loss of their beloved boys
Grossman’s lawyers in the civil trial call the crash a ‘tragic, horrible accident,’ say she didn’t see the boys on the crosswalk, that ‘there were other factors involved,’ and that she wasn’t ‘impaired’ with alcohol and drugs as the Iskanders’ attorneys allege.
He testified Monday that he saw the boys at the crosswalk as he drove through without hitting them and he didn’t see their mother Nancy grab their youngest son Zach and leap for their lives to avoid being hit by his black Mercedes as he sped through the intersection ahead of Grossman.
Erickson was having a love affair with Rebecca when she was separated from her plastic surgeon husband Dr. Pete Grossman, who is also a defendant in the lawsuit as the owner of the Mercedes she was driving at the time of the crash.
The ex-ballplayer admitted Monday that last week he wasn’t in court for the multimillion dollar trial – not because he was at a charity golf tournament in Las Vegas, as his lawyers claimed in court – but because he was shacked up in sunny Cabo San Lucas, Mexico with his new girlfriend, blonde Canadian widow Stacey Kendall Stimson, who lives in the luxury resort.
And he revealed that in the months after the crash, while he was still ‘in love’ with Grossman, he was seeing another woman in California called Veralyn.
Questioned by attorney Panish he also confessed Monday that he had ‘lied to police and committed perjury’ by presenting the wrong vehicle to investigators who wanted to inspect his vehicle for signs of damage.
He owned two black Mercedes SUVs and the one he turned over for inspection nine days after the crash wasn’t the one he was driving at the time of the accident.
