Former pitcher Scott Erickson charged with reckless driving

Former Los Angeles Dodgers 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

Erickson-Reckless Driving (AP2005)

Former Los Angeles Dodgers 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.

Besides pitching for the Dodgers, he played for the Minnesota Twins, Baltimore Orioles and New York Yankees from 1991 to 2006.