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Girl, Grandfather Fight Over $2 Million Settlement

A 13-year-old girl and her grandfather are locked in a legal battle over a $2 million settlement awarded to the grandfather after the girl's father died while incarcerated on Long Island. 

The girl's father, Scott Eriksen, died in a fight with a correction officer in the Suffolk County Jail in 2005. The teen had never met her father and didn't learn who he was until after he died. 

The court awarded the money from a wrongful death settlement to the man's father, Gary Eriksen. 

But now that the court knows about Eriksen's child, the teen's lawyer said the money belongs to her. 

"No matter whether he knew or didn't know of the existence of his granddaughter when he first received the money, he learned through the court of the existence of his granddaughter while the money still was in his possession, and he's since misspent it and dissolved it," John Ray told reporters Friday.

Ray alleged that Eriksen spent the settlement money on luxury cars, various homes and a stake in the Emporium nightclub in Patchogue.

Eriksen was arrested and held without bail for allegedly stealing and misusing the money from the settlement, then fleeing the state after being held in contempt of court last year.

The grandfather faces a hearing next Tuesday. Calls to his lawyer were not returned Friday. 

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