Man Accused Of Killing 3 RivCo Teens: Judge Won't Reduce Charges

CORONA, CA — A judge Monday denied a motion to reduce charges against a Corona-area man accused of chasing down and ramming a car occupied by six teenagers, causing the vehicle to crash and kill half of the boys.

Anurag Chandra, 44, is charged with three counts each of murder and attempted murder, with sentence-enhancing great bodily injury allegations, for the January 2020 attack.

Chandra's attorney, David Wohl, submitted a motion to Riverside County Superior Court Judge Sean Crandell, asking that the criminal complaint be set aside under Penal Code section 995, which permits defendants to make a case for a reduction in charges, or an outright dismissal of them.

Wohl argued that his client did not have an intent to kill and should not be held to answer for murder, but instead be tried only for voluntary manslaughter. Crandell ruled against the defense and confirmed an April 22 trial date at the Riverside Hall of Justice.

Chandra is being held without bail at the Robert Presley Jail in Riverside.

The defendant is accused of killing Daniel Hawkins, Jacob Ivascu and Drake Ruiz -- all 16 -- on Jan. 19, 2020. Ivascu was from Riverside; the other two were from Corona.

A 13-year-old boy, 14-year-old boy and 18-year-old man, who was at the wheel of the car that was struck, suffered moderate to major injuries and were treated at Inland Valley Medical Center in Wildomar. They have since recovered to varying degrees.

According to California Highway Patrol investigators and prosecutors, the boys were having a Sunday night sleepover at one of their homes and decided to try a "doorbell ditch" prank in the neighborhood, on Modjeska Summit Road in the Temescal Valley, just south of Corona.

Shortly after 10 p.m., five of them piled into a Toyota Prius parked on Modjeska Summit, while another went to Chandra's residence and rang the bell several times, investigators said. The youth then ran to the Prius, which raced away from the location.

According to a District Attorney's Office statement, Chandra "chased after the Prius in his 2019 Infinity Q50."

CHP Officer Juan Quintero said that the defendant bore down on the Prius at high speed along Temescal Canyon Road, approaching Squaw Mountain Road. The lawman alleged that the defendant rammed the Prius, causing it to spin out of control and slam into a tree on the side of the road.

Family members told reporters that the boys were fleeing out of fear and were trying to avoid a confrontation with Chandra. There was no prior dispute between the teens and the defendant, according to prosecutors.

Witnesses followed Chandra back to his residence and alerted CHP officers, who arrested him roughly four hours after the collision.

He has no documented prior felony convictions, but along with the murder charges, he has an unresolved misdemeanor case for alleged battery on a cohabitant.