Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
Crash in Times Square fatal
A smashed car sits at Broadway and 45th Street in New York’s Times Square after plowing through a crowd of pedestrians Thursday, killing one. Police do not suspect a link to terrorism, and the driver was taken into custody to be tested for drugs and alcohol.
The driver was tackled by pedestrians and taken into custody. He was being tested for drugs and alcohol and charges against him were pending.
NEW YORK — A man who appeared to be intoxicated steered his car onto a sidewalk running through the heart of Times Square on Thursday and mowed down pedestrians for three blocks, killing a teenager and injuring 22 others, before he was tackled by bystanders, authorities said.
Pandemonium erupted when the vehicle barreled through the prime tourist location and slammed into a security barrier, coming to rest with two of its wheels in the air. The car leaned on a lamppost and steel barriers intended to block vehicles from getting onto the sidewalk.
“He didn’t stop,” said Asa Lowe of Brooklyn, who was standing outside a store when he heard screaming. “He just kept going.”
The driver was tackled by pedestrians and taken into custody. He was being tested for drugs and alcohol and charges against him were pending.
The crash happened at midday on a hot, clear day that brought large crowds of people into the streets to enjoy the good weather. Video posted online showed steam or smoke pouring from the car for a few moments after it stopped moving.
“Based on information we have at this moment, there is no indication that this was an act of terrorism,” Mayor Bill de Blasio told reporters at a news conference in Times Square. “We all feel deeply right now for those who were injured and for their families.”
The driver, a 26-year-old Navy veteran named Richard Rojas, was taken into custody and was undergoing tests for alcohol and drugs, Police Commissioner James O’Neill said. Rojas had been arrested at least twice previously for driving while intoxicated, once in 2008 and once in 2015, police said. He pleaded guilty to an infraction in 2015 and was ordered to complete a drunken-driving program and lost his license for 90 days.
He was arrested last week on a charge of menacing. Police said he pointed a kitchen knife at a notary who’d come over to do paperwork, and he accused the notary of stealing his identity. The case is pending.
In previous arrests, he told authorities he believed he was being harassed and followed, according to a law enforcement official who wasn’t authorized to speak publicly on an ongoing probe and spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity.
Investigators were searching his Bronx home and canvassing the crime scene for video.
Rojas enlisted in the Navy in 2011 and was an electrician’s mate fireman apprentice, according to the Navy. He was most recently based at the Naval Air Station in Jacksonville, Fla., and was discharged in 2014.
Officials said the deadly rampage began around noon near 42nd Street, when Rojas, traveling south on Seventh Avenue, inexplicably made a U-turn, mounted a curb on the west side of the one-way avenue and began to drive north against traffic but on the sidewalk.
The crash killed an 18-yearold woman. Her 13-year-old sister was one of 22 injured, police said. Police did not provide their names.
Police do not suspect a link to terrorism, but the vehicle was checked by the bomb squad and some landmarks were getting beefed-up security “out of an abundance of caution,” Mayor Bill de Blasio said .
Police said that when Rojas drove up on the sidewalk, he went for three blocks, passing tourist draws like the Hard Rock Cafe and the Bubba Gump Shrimp Co. restaurant and mowing people down before slamming into a pole. He was combative with officers who handcuffed him, authorities said.
Witnesses described their horror at seeing a car race through the area.
Bruno Carvalho, a student at State University of New York Albany, said the car approached quickly and passed him on the sidewalk.
“People just got stunned,” he said. “I don’t think there was actually time for screaming.”
Victims had no time to react and scramble for safety in crowded Times Square, said Alpha Balde, a sightseeing-ticket seller.
“This place?” Balde said. “Anything happens here, there’s no time for people to get out.”
After the crash, the driver climbed out of the vehicle and began to run away, witnesses and police said. Ken Bradix, a door host supervisor at Planet Hollywood, struck him to get him to stop, Balde said.
He and Bradix jumped on top of Rojas, lifted his shirt to make sure he had no weapons and held him until police arrived moments later, Balde said.
Planet Hollywood said Bradix “selflessly and heroically took action, helping to stop the fleeing suspect.”
The White House said President Donald Trump was informed of the situation in Times Square and would continue to be briefed as it unfolded.
The sidewalks in many parts of Times Square and surrounding blocks are lined with metal posts designed to prevent cars from getting onto the sidewalks and other public areas.
That network of barricades, though, is far from a complete defense. There are many areas where vehicles could be driven onto packed sidewalks or public plazas.
Times Square also has a heavy police presence at all hours of the day and night.