Murder Charges Filed After 3 Teens Killed Near SW RivCo

TEMESCAL VALLEY, CA — A Corona-area man was formally charged Thursday by the Riverside County District Attorney's Office with three counts of murder and three counts of attempted murder in the weekend crash that killed three 16-year-old boys and injured three others.

Anurag Chandra made his initial court appearance Thursday afternoon before Riverside County Superior Court Judge David Gunn, who appointed him a public defender and scheduled his arraignment for Feb. 21 at the Riverside Hall of Justice.

Along with the attempted murder and murder charges, the DA’s Office has filed a special circumstance allegation of multiple murders, making Chandra eligible for the death penalty. He is being held without bail at the Robert Presley Jail in Riverside.

Chandra was arrested Monday on suspicion of intentionally ramming his car into the teens' 2002 Toyota Prius, causing it to slam into a tree. The deadly crash was reported at 10:28 p.m. Sunday on Temescal Canyon Road near Trilogy Parkway.

Killed in the crash were Daniel Hawkins of Corona, Jacob Ivascu of Riverside, and Drake Ruiz of Corona — all 16 years old. The 18-year-old driver of the Prius as well as two other boys, ages 13 and 14, were injured but survived.

The boys were having a sleepover and ultimately dared one of the friends to do a “doorbell ditch," so they drove to a nearby house, according to a CHP investigation. One of the boys rang the doorbell of Chandra's home on Modjeska Summit Road and ran back to the Prius.

Chandra chased after the Prius in his 2019 Infinity Q50. Ultimately, as both vehicles approached Squaw Mountain Road, Chandra’s vehicle collided with the back of the Prius, causing it to veer off the road and into a tree, according to investigators.

Chandra was arrested at his home Monday by CHP officers and booked at the Robert Presley Detention Center in Riverside.

According to court records, Chandra has an unresolved misdemeanor case for alleged battery on a cohabitant and child endangerment.

—City News Service contributed to this report.