Psych care for carnage
Vet ‘not responsible’ in deadly Times Sq. rampage
A Navy veteran who drove his car through crowds of Times Square pedestrians in 2017 was found “not responsible” due to mental illness Wednesday for the carnage that killed an 18-year-old tourist and injured 22 others.
A jury in Manhattan Supreme Court found Richard Rojas, 31, “not responsible by reason of mental disease or defect” for Alyssa Elsman’s death and 23 other counts after deliberating for only about a day. The Bronx man suffers from schizophrenia and will be admitted to a long-term psychiatric care facility.
Rojas was taken back into custody following the verdict. Justice Daniel Conviser said he must undergo a psychiatric examination before being institutionalized.
“I have actually never done this before,” Conviser said as he calculated how to proceed.
Rojas’ lawyer, Enrico DeMarco, called the verdict “humane.” He said his client’s demeanor had changed significantly since his arrest more than five years ago.
“When I first met Richard, he was a zombie. He was an untreated zombie,” DeMarco told the Daily News. “Over time, he’s received the appropriate medical care and psychiatric treatment that every human being deserves. He is somewhat different than when I first met him.”
Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg thanked the jury for its service.
“Our condolences continue to be with the family, friends and loved ones of Alyssa Elsman, who suffered a terrible and tragic loss, and all of the victims of this horrific incident,” said Bragg.
Elsman’s family could not be reached for comment. The teen’s little sister testified early in the nearly two-month trial, describing how the family had arrived from Michigan the same day as the attack. She said she watched her big sister die after Rojas’ careened down three blocks of Times Square sidewalks behind the wheel of a Honda Accord.
“A whole piece was ripped out of my life,” Ava Elsman said. “I get jealous watching people with their families, because I don’t have that anymore.”
Maimed in the bloodshed was Jessica Williams, also 18, who was playing hooky from school in New Jersey with a friend when she was “basically cut in half” by Rojas’ car, Assistant District Attorney Alfred Peterson said during the trial’s opening arguments.
Prosecutors did not dispute that Rojas is mentally ill. They argued the precise route he drove to Manhattan from his mother’s Bronx home proved he could appreciate his actions were “morally and legally” wrong.
Rojas never denied being the driver. DeMarco argued his client “lost his mind” on May 18, 2017.
Video played at trial showed Rojas speed through large crowds of pedestrians before crashing his ride violently into a bollard. He then leapt out of the car, flailing wildly and shoving a traffic agent before a crowd of bystanders took him to the ground.
Several of Rojas’ family members testified about him being medicated as a boy and said his hallucinations worsened after he left the Navy in 2014. He enlisted in 2011.
Jurors heard from a New York-Presbyterian Hospital Weill-Cornell psychiatrist who said Rojas’ psychosis, caused by a chemical imbalance in his brain, affected his ability to perceive reality. In Rojas’ mind, according to Dr. Ziv Cohen, he was acting on the orders of a “God-like” voice in his head that told him to mow down “spirits” with his car.
DeMarco believed footage of a highly disoriented Rojas at the scene was crucial in demonstrating he lacked capacity to understand what was going on.
“What happened?” a distressed Rojas is heard saying in one video, lying on the street and surrounded by NYPD officers. “Oh, my God. What happened?”