Left: FILE – This reservation photo released by the Riverside County Sheriff’s Department shows Anurag Chandra, 42, of Corona, Calif., Monday, Jan. 20, 2020. (Riverside County Sheriff’s Department via AP, file). Right: FILE – A California Highway Patrol (CHP) Multidisciplinary Accident Investigation Team (MAIT) officer investigates the scene of a fatal crash in the Temescal Valley, south of Corona, Calif. , Monday, Jan. 20, 2020. (Watchara Phomicinda/The Orange County Register via AP, File).
The driver who overturned a car full of teenagers who pranked him while ringing the doorbell at home has been convicted of murder.
Anurag Chandra, 45, was found guilty by a jury in Riverside, California on Friday of three counts of first-degree murder and three counts of second-degree murder for chasing a car carrying at least six teenagers who allegedly gambled at the “ding dong ditch”. — the prank of ringing a doorbell and then running away — at Chandra’s on the night of January 19, 2020.
Chandra, who did not know the boys, chased the teenagers in her car, an Infiniti, eventually reaching 99mph before stopping them. The Prius carrying the teens lost control, crashing the car into a tree, the Los Angeles Times reported.
Jacob Ivascu, Drake Ruiz and Daniel Hawkins, all 16, were killed. The Los Angeles Times reported that firefighters pulled three other teenagers from the car. Joshua Hawkins, 13, and Jacob’s brother Joshua Ivascu, 14, as well as driver Sergio Campusano, 18, were seriously injured, local website Press-Enterprise reported.
According to the LA Times, citing a California Highway Patrol investigation, the teenagers had a sleepover and one of them dared to prank their friends.
Chandra had testified that the prank drove him “extremely, extremely insane”, according to The Associated Press.
Local news website Press-Enterprise reported that Chandra testified at trial that he drank 12 beers in the hours before the crash. He apparently didn’t stop after finishing the rear of the Prius.
Chandra had pleaded not guilty to all charges.
“The killing of these young men was a horrific and senseless tragedy for our community,” Riverside County District Attorney Mike Hestrin said in a statement to The Associated Press. “I thank the jury for their verdict. This is an important step towards justice.
Chandra’s attorney, David Wohl, told the Los Angeles Times the sentencing was a “complete overreach” and that he planned to file a motion for a new trial.
“I think we thought the worst-case scenario would be intentional homicide, but we also thought we argued for an outright acquittal,” Wohl told the newspaper. “The battle has only just begun as far as I’m concerned.”
Wohl said media reports that the teenagers had just pranked Chandra are misleading and that a teenager had “exposed himself, with pants pulled down under his bum”, after knocking on Chandra’s door in 10:30 p.m., the press – Company reported.
Wohl reportedly said his client’s wife and daughters were inside the home and he was in “extreme fear for their safety,” according to Press-Enterprise.
Family members of teenage victims say Chandra was lying.
“We are happy to see that justice has been served even though these days it is difficult to get there,” said Alex Ivascu, Joshua and Jacob’s father, after the verdict was read, Press-Enterprise reported. “But we had a reasonable jury that looked at the facts and realized that facts speak louder than words – or the false words of the defendant.”
Chandra was already facing criminal charges related to domestic violence allegations in 2020 at the time of the fatal accident, the Associated Press reported.
Chandra is currently in custody. Jail records indicate Chandra’s next court date is July 14. It is not known if this is the date of his sentencing. In California, the penalty for first degree murder is 25 years to life in prison.
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