Ex-Dodger Scott Erickson says he 'wasn't racing' his ex-lover in his SUV when she killed two boys

Rebecca Grossman, left, at the Van Nuys Courthouse during her criminal trial in February 2024. (Irfan Khan/Los Angeles Times)

In that proceeding, Grossman's lawyers tried to pin the boys' deaths on Erickson, claiming it was his SUV, not hers, that first struck the children. But the messages revealed during the criminal trial that the pair continued to show their affection even as her lawyers cast him as the unseen villain.

During Monday's civil trial proceedings, Brian Panish, the attorney for the Iskander family, presented jurors with numerous WhatsApp messages that were sexual in nature that Erickson sent her after the crash, including, "Grossman, you make me feel like a sex crazy kid."

He was also questioned about the large gaps of time between some of their exchanges, with the family's attorney suggesting they had been deleted.

The retired pitcher, wearing a dark suit and a white dress shirt with no tie, denied any role in the boys' deaths.

He did, though, admit he was charged with misdemeanor reckless driving for his role in the incident and the charge was later dropped after he made a public service video on driving.

Read more: Ex-Dodger saw Rebecca Grossman fatally hit boys in crosswalk, former MLB player says on stand

Erickson and Grossman were driving separately down Triunfo Canyon Road in Westlake Village when Mark and Jacob crossed the street with their mother and younger brother at Saddle Mountain Drive. Nancy Iskander, at the criminal trial, testified that she began to cross on inline skates with her youngest son, Zachary, next to her on his scooter. Mark, on a skateboard, and Jacob, also wearing inline skates, followed a little over an arm’s length behind.

After the collision, the safety system on Grossman's Mercedes SUV disabled the vehicle, which came to a stop one-third of a mile down the road. Testing showed her blood-alcohol content was 0.08% — the legal limit in California — three hours after the crash, according to testimony at both trials.

But Grossman was drinking alone, Panish reminded jurors on Monday. He peppered Erickson on the stand with questions about his drinking habits, and Erickson acknowledged drinking every day for the last 10 years. On the day of the crash, he was driving a powerful AMG model of Mercedes SUV, but later provided police his other Mercedes for inspection, he testified.

During Grossman's criminal trial, a district attorney's investigator testified that Erickson "cold plated" by using the same license plate for both vehicles.

Karim Iskander and wife Nancy Iskander at the courthouse. (Brian van der Brug/Los Angeles Times)

Before the civil trial began, Erickson, through his lawyers, sought to blame Grossman for the entire incident, insisting he was going just over the 45 mph speed limit. But Panish has put on law enforcement witnesses testifying that data from Grossman's Mercedes showed she was driving 70 to 80-plus mph before the collision, and got them to concede it was logical that Erickson was driving faster, as his vehicle was ahead of hers.

Erickson's friend and former baseball player Royce Clayton said that, in the aftermath, Erickson called him and said he was watching Grossman being detained and "they were traveling at a high rate of speed." She was directly behind him, and he said as he came up to this crosswalk, he saw the children, Clayton said, and he avoided them, but she hit them.

Clayton testified that Erickson told him that he and Grossman were "flying down" Triunfo Canyon Road when he swerved to avoid two boys in the crosswalk. He had also told jurors that Erickson was watching the aftermath of the crash unfold while hiding in a bush not far from the scene — but on the stand Monday, Erickson denied it.

The former baseball player also denied, when questioned by the Iskanders' lawyer, that he told Clayton he was flying along, missed the boys and his then-girlfriend hit them.

"I was happy to safely make it throug the intersection," he testified. "I didn't flee. I was driving down the road."

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This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.