Mayhem at Crossroads of the World
Police said Rojas was obsessed with Scientology and had accumulated piles of literature on the controversial religion.
Other friends said Rojas, who was trying to work in real estate, had just gotten back his Honda after it had been repossessed.
The Navy vet went out drinking Wednesday night and appeared to be in good spirits.
“This is really crazy,” said pal Jose Medrano. “He doesn’t cause trouble. This is really weird. He’s a low-key person. He’s a family man.”
Among the 13 victims rushed to Bellevue Hospital was retired teacher William Nelson, 64.
Nelson, of Park Slope, Brooklyn, suffered head and neck injuries but was responding to commands, relatives said.
“He squeezed his hand and wiggled his toes,” said son William Jr., whose sister was also at the hospital. “He’s on a breathing tube and is heavily sedated. It’s really hard for both of us. We just lost our mother and now our father’s upstairs.”
Ariel Lebowits, a Brooklyn father of two, suffered a concussion and bruised face.
“He doesn’t even remember a car hitting him,” said his brother Chaim Lebowits, 34. “Thank God he’s all right.”
Thomas Henry, 72, of Queens, was taking his relatives from Guyana on a sightseeing tour when the car jumped the sidewalk and bore down on them.
Henry’s face was bruised and he had a large knot on the back of his head.
“My cousin is traumatized because she saw the car hit him,” said the victim’s daughter Alison Henry, 44.
FDNY Chief Mark Foris, of Batallion 9, and his team had rescued nine people trapped in a Times Square elevator before he stepped outside in time to witness the carnage.
The car smashed into the barrier and caught fire before his eyes.
“There was a person unconscious right next to the car,” Foris said.
“As I continued down, I realized that this wasn’t one or two injuries. This was a mass casualty incident,” Foris recalled. “I told my aide, ‘We need a lot of units.’ ”
Charges against Rojas were pending late Thursday. He was taken to Bellevue Hospital, but it was not clear if it was for a physical injury or a psychiatric evaluation.