Socialite 'had valium and alcohol in system' when brothers died in 'hit-and-run'

07 February 2024 , 05:34

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Mark and Jacob Iskander who were killed crossing the street in Westlake Village in 2020 (Image: FOX 11 Los Angeles/Youtube)

An LA socialite accused of killing two young brothers in an alleged hit-and-run had Valium and alcohol in her system, court documents have revealed.

Rebecca Grossman had reportedly consumed a cocktail with her then-lover Scott Erickson, former pitcher for the LA Dodgers baseball team. While the actual sequence of events remains hazy, court documents, obtained by the Los Angeles Times, indicate that she likely took her cocktail with a tab of Valium.

A type of benzodiazepine, according to Drugs.com, Valium is often used to treat anxiety disorders and is thought to help patients by "enhancing the activity of certain neurotransmitters in the brain." It's most commonly used to treat anxiety disorders and, notably, alcohol withdrawal. According to Det. Michael Takacs, who serves as the Los Angeles district attorney's drug recognition expert and who spoke to a jury on Monday, those who have a single drink and a valium might experience the sensation of five drinks, he said, using beers as an example.

READ MORE: Witness who saw 'speeding socialite hit and kill two boys' says he saw one 'go airborne'

Mark and Jacob Iskander who were killed crossing the street in Westlake Village in 2020 (FOX 11 Los Angeles/Youtube)

The Los Angeles Times reported that a breathalyzer test taken at the scene showed her to have a blood alcohol content (BAC) of around 0.075% — well under the legal limit of .08% in the state of California. But an actual blood test taken three hours later yielded a BAC of 0.08%, which was likely higher at the actual time of the crime given the rate at which alcohol leaves the bloodstream.

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Takacs told the court that such a BAC would definitely cause impairment, and since she tested positive for the presence of Valium, she would have been incredibly impaired. It therefore makes sense, he argued to a jury, that Grossman could have negligently killed the boys in her car, which was going as fast as 81 mph (130kmh), prosecutors allege. The 60-year-old was charged with two counts of second-degree murder, two counts of vehicular manslaughter with gross negligence and a count of hit-and-run driving that resulted in death.

She allegedly continued driving down the highway for quite a waysbefore pulling over on Triunfo Canyon Road, where she hit Mark and Jacob Iskander, 11 and 8, respectively, as they walked behind their mother on Sept. 29, 2020. Previously a witness recounted the horrifying scene when the boys were fatally struck.

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Rebecca Grossman and Dr. Peter Grossman pictured in 2017 (Getty Images North America)

In emotional court testimony, Jack Sands described the terrifying incident he witnessed in September 2020, when the children were killed by a speeding Mercedes allegedly driven by socialite Rebecca Grossman, who had allegedly just had a boozy lunch with her former LA Dodgers star lover.

Sands detailed the tragic incident, stating that Grossman's white Mercedes struck Mark and his brother Jacob. According to Sands, he was a passenger in a car overtaken by Grossman's Mercedes and a black SUV driven by her lover, Scott Erickson. Sands described the two vehicles as "bumper to bumper" with the black car attempting to avoid the children, but the white Mercedes struck one of the boys, sending him airborne.

Nancy Iskander, the mother of the victims, fled the courtroom in tears when a graphic photo of her 11-year-old son Mark's lifeless body was presented by prosecutors (Los Angeles Times via Getty Images)

He said, per the Daily Mail : "The black car tried to avoid the kids by moving out of the way. But the white car was just a few feet behind - I could see the white car hit one of the boys. I saw him go airborne to the right side of the road."

Nancy Iskander, the mother of the victims, fled the courtroom in tears when a graphic photo of her 11-year-old son Mark's lifeless body was presented by prosecutors. During the testimony, Sands claimed that neither vehicle stopped at the scene after the tragic incident, that took place in Westlake Village, California..

The picture - shown to jurors by prosecutors - was taken by local Westlake Village resident Susan Manners just after the accident which she also witnessed.

Abigail O'Leary