Los Angeles, CA

Ex-MLB pitcher Scott Erickson charged in connection to Sept. 29 hit-and-run

LOS ANGELES – Former Major League Baseball pitcher Scott Erickson has been charged with reckless driving in connection to a hit-and-run in Southern California that killed two boys last year.

The Los Angeles District Attorney’s office said Erickson, 52, was charged Wednesday with one misdemeanor count of reckless driving.

Investigators told KABC-TV he was racing with Rebecca Grossman on Sept. 29, moments before she struck and killed 11-year-old Mark Iskander and his 8-year-old brother, Jacob, as they crossed the street in Westlake Village, a suburb 30 miles northwest of downtown Los Angeles.

The boys were crossing the street in a marked crosswalk with their parents.

Prosecutors alleged that Grossman continued driving, eventually stopping about a quarter-mile from the crash scene.

Grossman, 57, pleaded not guilty to charges of murder, vehicular manslaughter with gross negligence and hit-and-run driving resulting in death. The charges carry a maximum penalty of 34 years to life in state prison.

Grossman, a philanthropist whose Grossman Burn Foundation supports burn survivors, is free on $2 million bail.

Erickson is scheduled to be arraigned March 16. A call to a number listed for him went unanswered.

Erickson played in the majors from 1991 to 2006, including the first six seasons of his career with the Minnesota Twins and seven seasons with the Baltimore Orioles.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.