Former Major League Baseball player Royce Clayton entered Rebecca Grossman’s wrongful-death lawsuit Friday, recalling that the founder of the Grossman Burn Foundation ran over two boys with his car at a Westlake Village intersection.
Through tears, Clayton testified that former Dodgers shortstop Scott Erickson told him he saw Grossman run over the two brothers in his rearview mirror as he brought him “high speed” in his Mercedes.
“I don’t know if he used the word race, but they were going at high speed. He was following him directly, and when he got to the intersection, he saw children,” said Clayton inside the Van Nuys courthouse, where both Grossman and Erickson were being tried in a civil case filed by the family of Jacob and Mark Iskander.
On September 29, 2020, Nancy Iskander was crossing the street in Westlake Village with her sons, ages 5, 8 and 11, walking.
As they fell, Iskander managed to pull his young son out of the way, but Jacob and Mark were hit and thrown into the air.
According to testimony at her criminal trial, Grossman had been drinking with Erickson, her boyfriend at the time, and Clayton at a restaurant. Grossman and Erickson were on their way to his home to watch a presidential debate that night when the accident happened.
He is serving 15 years to life in prison after being convicted of murder.
On Friday, Clayton, a longtime friend and teammate, recalled getting a surprise phone call from Erickson several times after the collision. Clayton testified that Erickson told him that he and Grossman were “flying down” Triunfo Canyon Road when he swerved to avoid the two boys at the intersection.
Under questioning by the Iskander family’s attorney, Brian Panish, Clayton admitted that Erickson said he saw Grossman hit the boys.
Remembering the conversation, the short-lived former was overcome with emotion and hid his face in his hands. Panish asked Clayton to recall how Erickson had described their driving, to which Clayton replied, “racing or speeding. What’s the difference?”
Rebecca Grossman, left, at the Van Nuys Courthouse. (Irfan Khan / Los Angeles Times
(Irfan Khan/Los Angeles Times)
The Iskander family has sued Grossman and Erickson, saying they are responsible for the boys’ deaths and that they were driving drunk.
On the stand, Clayton told jurors the three drank margaritas at Julio’s Agave Grill. They were all driving to Grossman’s lake house when the accident happened. .
Clayton said Erickson, his friend of 30 years, called him after the accident and told him he had arrived at Grossman’s, then ran back to the scene to find Grossman’s wrecked car and him with the police.
“He wasn’t, as far as I can imagine from what he saw,” Clayton said, adding that he suggested Erickson get a lawyer.
Karim Iskander and wife Nancy Iskander in court.
(Brian van der Brug/Los Angeles Times)
Clayton said he drove past the scene and saw Grossman’s wrecked car sitting on the side of the road. Clayton testified that he never saw Erickson, who told him he was looking behind the woods on the side of the road.
Clayton told jurors he believes Erickson should be held accountable.
“The thing that should be done is to stop it,” he added.
When questioned, Clayton said that he did not believe that Erickson and Grossman were disturbed when they left Julio’s.
