Investigators in California arrested a man and said he intentionally drove his car into a Toyota Prius full of teenagers, resulting in three dead and three injured.
The California Highway Patrol said that Anurag Chandra, 42, was driving a white Infiniti when he hit the vehicle driven by the teenagers, causing the Prius to lose control and slam into a tree. The crash occurred before 10:30 p.m. on Sunday.
“It was an intentional act,” Lt. David Yokley said on Monday. “Our investigation led us to believe Mr. Chandra intentionally rammed the Prius, causing the driver to lose control. The investigation has now changed from a hit-run collision to homicide.”
Yokley said authorities “really don’t know” the motive for the crash but said the teenagers knew that Chandra was targeting them.
“Obviously, there was some sort of contact. We are looking into those exact same questions of whether or not he was known to the victims,” he said.
The dead teenagers were identified as Daniel Hawkins, 16, of Corona; Drake Ruiz, 16, of Corona; and 16-year-old Jacob Ivascu of Riverside.
The teenagers were members of Northpoint Evangelical Free Church, where a vigil was held Monday evening.
“They were bright young kids that had so much to look forward to, and it was taken far too early,” church spokesman Tim East said.
