Freshman Is Charged With Murder in 4 Deaths Near UC Santa Barbara

UC Santa Barbara freshman David Attias was charged Monday with four counts of murder stemming from the Friday night collision in which his Saab plowed into a crowd of strolling students, killing four people and critically injuring a fifth.

Attias, who is being held without bail in Santa Barbara County Jail, also was charged with four counts of gross vehicular manslaughter while intoxicated and five counts of driving while under the influence of drugs and causing great bodily harm.

Attias’ first court appearance is expected to be at 8:30 a.m. today, when he is scheduled for arraignment.

As residents of the off-campus neighborhood of Isla Vista sought to cope with the carnage, prosecutors declined to say why they decided that Attias’ actions were intentional.

But the filing of the murder counts makes clear that prosecutors believe the 18-year-old son of a Hollywood TV and film director was acting deliberately when his car careened into a crowd late Friday night on a street known for weekend parties.

Before the charges were filed, California Highway Patrol Officer Mike Muell said Attias was initially “booked on suspicion of murder because we heard rumors he was yelling, ‘I am the angel of death!’ and he was going over to the corpses, saying, ‘You deserved to die.’ ”

Muell said that the comments had not been confirmed but that investigators were interviewing witnesses about them.

Under a light rain Monday night, 4,000 to 5,000 people gathered in silence at the crash scene for a candlelight vigil. Relatives and friends of several victims were among them, and they hugged before filing through the crowd to the apartment of victim Ruthie Levy above the crash scene.

At one point, the crowd hummed “Amazing Grace” as the rain let up.

The CHP is continuing to analyze damage on Attias’ car, skid marks and other evidence on the street, and investigators were interviewing witnesses.

A Santa Barbara County sheriff’s spokesman said Attias showed signs of intoxication at the time of his arrest. Blood samples are being analyzed to determine whether Attias had taken drugs or consumed alcohol before the collision.

A lawyer for Attias did not return calls for comment Monday.

Killed were Nicholas Bourdakis, 20, a sophomore from the Bay Area; Christopher Divis, 20, a sophomore from San Diego County; Ruth Levy, a student at Santa Barbara City College from San Francisco; and Elie Israel, 27, of San Francisco. Israel was a friend of Levy’s brother, Albert, who was critically injured.

Richard Ramsey, a friend of Attias from Compton, said Monday that Attias had called him from jail over the weekend, sounding calm but sad.

“He said, ‘There’s been an accident. Four people are dead,’ ” Ramsey, who first met Attias at a Hollywood rave party, recalled.

Residents of Attias’ off-campus dorm described the suspect as a troubled young man whose behavior was often bizarre and erratic. They said Attias, whose father Daniel is a director of such TV series as “Ally McBeal,” had become increasingly isolated and aggressive in recent months, prompting his roommates to ask him to move elsewhere.

“People tried to avoid him because he was really weird,” said Adriana Lopez, 18, who lived across the hall from Attias in the 10-story dorm building. “He’d be walking around the cafeteria with his tray and we’d all put our heads down.”

After learning that Attias had been charged with murder, Lopez said: “It’s not surprising; he didn’t even slam on his brakes.”

Ramsey, 23, despite acknowledging that his friend had emotional problems, described him as kind and caring.

“David is a really good person,” Ramsey said.

Ramsey said Attias sought out the rave party scene because of its acceptance of offbeat characters. But even there, men ignored him and women rebuffed his advances, he said.

“All he wants is to be liked and loved,” Ramsey said. “But he didn’t get that. He had this mentality that it was Dave against the world.”

Isla Vista residents gathered at the crash site throughout the day Monday, placing flowers and candles on makeshift shrines. Flags on the university campus were at half-staff, and students handed out yellow ribbons in memory of the victims.

At the evening vigil, a student who addressed the crowd said: “This is about lack of community--the violence and grief and hopelessness we saw Friday night.”

Student Tiffany Tharp, 18, said people should pay attention to signs of emotional trouble in others.

“He was crying out for help and no one helped him,” she said. “He needed someone to listen to him.”

Still, she asked angrily, “Why should he take his problems out on four other people? If he was feeling depressed, he should have gone to counseling.”

Some students said they had been too upset to attend class Monday.

Kelly Murray, 22, said she was so distraught that she talked to a counselor provided by the university.

“It really helped to talk to someone,” she said.

Joe Shalaby, 19, said it was the most traumatic moment of his life.

“How am I supposed to look at my street now, with all the bloodstains in front of my house?” he asked.

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Times staff writers Eric Malnic, Greg Krikorian and Ana Cholo contributed to this story.