Fatal Accident At Crosswalk Was Concern 2 Years Before Boys Killed, HOA Member Says

WESTLAKE VILLAGE, CA — A retired plastic surgeon testified Friday that members of his Westlake Village homeowners association were so concerned about the safety of the crosswalk where Rebecca Grossman allegedly ran over and killed two boys in 2020 that meetings were held over it and they took their concerns to the city two years before the accident.

Dr. Theodore Corwin told a Van Nuys Superior Court civil jury hearing trial of the Iskander family's wrongful death suit against Grossman and her husband, Dr. Peter Grossman -- as well as former Dodger pitcher Scott Erickson - - that although he has never crossed the street at Triunfo Canyon Road and Saddle Mountain Drive, other residents had done so and in 2018 were apprehensive about their safety.

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Corwin said the city staff told them they would take the community's concerns under advisement and that the final decision was up to the City Council.

The testimony of Corwin, a defense witness who testified virtually, was interrupted numerous times by objections from lead plaintiffs' attorney Brian J. Panish that were sustained by Judge Huey P. Cotton, usually as hearsay or leading.

"This has to stop," the judge said at one point.

Corwin drew chuckles when a plaintiffs' objection was overruled and the witness asked the judge, "I can answer?"

The plaintiffs in the civil suit filed in January 2021 are Nancy Iskander and her husband Karim as well as son Zachary. The lawsuit filed in January 2021 contends that Rebecca Grossman and Erickson had cocktails and the two later engaged in a speed contest along Triunfo Canyon Road until they reached the crosswalk and the children were struck at about 80 mph in a 45 mph zone on Sept. 29, 2020.

Erickson testified earlier in the trial that he was in love at the time with the married Grossman and he denied that he was racing her or that he was impaired at the time.

In their court papers, the Iskander attorneys contend that the 62-year- old Grossman tried to flee the scene and likely would have succeeded had her vehicle not automatically shut down due to it sensing the massive impact that had just occurred.

The benefactor then lied to law enforcement about her speed and how much she had to drink, and contended she did not know why her airbag suddenly deployed despite her vehicle sustaining massive front-end damage, the Iskander attorneys further state. Grossman and Erickson have blamed each other for hitting the boys.

Grossman is serving a sentence of 15 years to life in prison. In March, a panel of the Second District Court of Appeal upheld the criminal case conviction. Grossman was found guilty Feb. 23, 2024, of two counts each of second-degree murder and vehicular manslaughter with gross negligence and one count of hit-and-run driving.