Ding-dong ditch prank turns deadly when ‘angry man’ chases teens, California mom says
On the way to a birthday sleepover Sunday night, six California teens in a Toyota Prius stopped to play a harmless prank, The Riverside Press-Enterprise reports. The aftermath left three of them dead.
“The boys were playing ding-dong ditch at a house they thought was somebody their age — but it turned out to be that angry man,” said Debbie Ruiz, mother of one of the teens who died, KTTV reported.
After one of the teens rang the doorbell and fled, the 18-year-old driver of the Prius spotted someone following them in another car, KNBC reported.
“He just got next to me and I was confused,” said Sergio Campusano, according to the station. “What is he going to do?”
“They were scared to death, tried to get away several times,” Ruiz said, The Riverside Press-Enterprise reported.
“I just saw him ram his car into my back,” Campusano said, KNBC reported. “And I whipped into my window and I blacked out and then I remember I woke up on the floor — I don’t remember how I got there. I was shaking.”
The 2002 Prius slammed into a tree on Temescal Canyon Road near Trilogy Parkway at 10:30 p.m., KTLA reported.
The crash killed Drake Ruiz, Jacob Ivascu and Daniel Hawkins, all 16 years old, KCBS reported. The other three teens, including younger brothers of Hawkins and Ivascu, were injured.
The teens were celebrating Jacob Ivascu’s recent birthday, KNBC reported.
“It’s the worst nightmare,” said Daniel Damien, whose son knew the teens, according to the station. “He’s been not talking for the last two days.”
Campusano, who suffered broken vertebrae, was released from the hospital Monday, KNBC reported. He says he can’t stop thinking about the crash that killed his friends.
“I loved each and every one of them. I still do,” he said, according to the station. “And I’m going to really miss them all. They were all a part of me. I don’t know what I’m going to do without them.”
Police arrested Anurag Chandra, 42, who fled the crash but was found a short distance away in his damaged white Infiniti, on suspicion of murder and assault with a deadly weapon, The Riverside Press-Enterprise reported.
“It was an intentional act,” said Lt. David Yokley of the California Highway Patrol, KTTV reported. “Our investigation led us to believe Mr. Chandra intentionally rammed the Prius, causing the driver to lose control.”
Chandra already faces misdemeanor charges of spousal abuse and willful injury to a child, filed in December in a separate case, The Riverside Press-Enterprise reported.
Several vigils and memorials have been held at the high schools attended by the teens. Local parents said they were baffled by the deaths.
“Sometimes I say, ‘Well, Lord forgive him,’” said John Davis, whose son knew the teens, KCBS reported. “But then other times I go, ‘This is a bad person.’”
“I understand people get road rage,” Damien said, according to the station. “But in this case, there were six innocent kids. I can’t understand why he didn’t stop.”
Debbie Ruiz says she’s also struggling with forgiveness after the death of her 16-year-old son, Drake, KNBC reported.
“It’s incredibly difficult to just say I forgive and I’ve seen the opposite. It’s worse. So somehow, some way, forgiveness has to be a part of what happens,” she said, according to the station.
Temescal Valley is southwest of central Los Angeles near Lake Elsinore.
