A meant-to-be fun prank ended in tragedy when a California man, Anurag Chandra, reacted with rage and rammed his car into a group of teenagers’ vehicle after they played a “ding dong ditch” joke on him. The incident occurred on January 19, 2020, in Temescal Valley, roughly 60 miles from downtown Los Angeles.
Chandra was convicted on April 28, 2023, of three counts of first-degree murder and three counts of attempted murder. The six teenagers were engaging in a lighthearted prank, ringing Chandra’s doorbell, mooning him, and then running away. Unfortunately, their harmless joke escalated into a tragic chain of events.
Claiming he was concerned for his family’s safety and “extremely, extremely mad” about the prank, Chandra chased the teens, although he didn’t know them personally. The pursuit concluded when Chandra forced the teenagers’ Toyota Prius off the road before fleeing the scene. The driver of the Prius, attempting to regain control, crashed into a tree, resulting in the deaths of three 16-year-olds: Daniel Hawkins, Drake Ruiz, and Jacob Ivascu.
During the trial, Chandra admitted to having consumed 12 beers prior to the incident. He said that he never intended to hit the Prius and didn’t stop after rear-ending it because he was unaware anyone was injured. Nonetheless, he confessed to driving recklessly at speeds of up to 99 mph.
The survivors of the crash, Sergio Campusano, 18, and Joshua Hawkins and Joshua Ivascu, both 13, bore witness to the entire ordeal and provided testimony in court. They were present in the courtroom when the verdict was announced.
