Indian-origin man convicted of killing 3 boys over doorbell prank
An Indian-origin man from California, United States (US), was found guilty on Friday of killing three boys, all aged 16, after they played a doorbell prank on him in January 2020. The court said Anurag Chandra deliberately rammed a car the boys were traveling in, which caused the driver to lose control and slam into a tree, resulting in the deaths.
Chandra said he was drunk during incident
The deceased teenagers, Daniel Hawkins, Drake Ruiz, and Jacob Ivascu, were traveling in a car with Sergio Campusano (18), Joshua Hawkins (13), and Joshua Ivascu (13). Chandra testified that he had drunk 12 beers before the incident and was furious over their prank. He said he followed the teenagers' car because he feared for his family's safety and wanted to express his anger.
One of boys rang doorbell, flashed buttocks
As per reports, Chandra and the boys didn't know each other. The prank began when one of the boys dared another to either jump into a swimming pool at night or ring someone's doorbell and flee. Chandra said that one of the boys rang his doorbell and flashed him his buttocks before running away. Following this, he chased after them and rear-ended their car.
Chandra already facing charges in domestic violence case
Chandra admitted to driving at a speed of 159km per hour before the collision. He said he didn't stop after the collision because he didn't realize anybody was injured. He was convicted of three counts of first-degree murder and three counts of attempted murder. Notably, he was already facing criminal charges in a domestic violence case at the time of the incident.
