Retired Major League Baseball player Royce Clayton was arrested early Sunday on suspicion of driving under the influence, according to booking records.
Clayton, a former shortstop and current baseball coach at Oaks Christian School in Westlake Village, was recently caught up in the drama surrounding Hidden Hills socialite Rebecca Grossman, who is charged with murder in the deaths of two young children at an intersection. Westlake Village pedestrian zone.
He testified at his trial that he drank margaritas with Grossman and his then-lover, former Dodgers pitcher Scott Erickson, in September 2020 before the couple crossed the crosswalk where Mark and Jacob Iskander, ages 11 and 8, They were beaten and killed.
Clayton was arrested Sunday shortly before 12:30 a.m. by Ventura County sheriff's deputies. He was booked on suspicion of driving under the influence at 2:55 a.m., cited and released, booking records show.
The Ventura County Sheriff's Office did not identify the person arrested as the former player, but his date of birth matches Clayton's, records show. A news release about a DUI operation in Thousand Oaks from Saturday night into Sunday morning identified Clayton as one of two people arrested. Checkpoints were operational from 6 to 11 p.m. at Hampshire Road and Evenstar Avenue and from 11 p.m. to 2 a.m. at Westlake Boulevard and Cascade Avenue.
Both locations are within a couple of miles of where Los Angeles County prosecutors allege Grossman hit and killed the children on Triunfo Canyon Road.
Clayton could not immediately be reached for comment. Oaks Christian said they do not comment on employee matters.
Clayton was one of the first witnesses at Grossman's trial. He told jurors on Jan. 29 that he had had wine with Erickson at Stonehaus Winery in Westlake Village and then later met up with Erickson and Grossman at Julio's Agave Grill. He testified that Grossman drank a margarita and Erickson a couple of margaritas before the group decided to go watch a presidential debate at Grossman's home in Westlake Village.
Clayton said, however, that he never drove home. The baseball coach testified that he learned of the fatal collision after speaking with Erickson on the phone a few hours later.
Grossman's lead defense attorney, Tony Buzbee, has repeatedly told jurors that Erickson is responsible for the Iskander brothers' deaths. He has said the retired baseball player's black Mercedes accelerated through the intersection first, striking Jacob and then Mark, whose body was thrown into the air before landing in the path of Grossman's white Mercedes.
On the witness stand last month, Buzbee asked Clayton if he was still friends with Erickson, who denied any wrongdoing. Clayton said no.
“I have kids,” Clayton said. “I just don't understand how he can be so negligent and responsible for running over children.”
A few days later, Clayton asked prosecutors to return to the witness stand to clarify for the jury that he was not saying that Erickson hit the children. The request was denied and the shortstop left the courthouse expressing displeasure with the decision.
