Times Square mayhem —‘He just kept going’
23 people hurt, 1 dead, as 26-year-old driver rampages for 3 blocks
NEW YORK — A man steered his car onto a sidewalk running through the heart of Times Square and mowed down pedestrians for three blocks Thursday, killing a teenager, then emerged from his wrecked vehicle wild-eyed and waving his arms before he was subdued by police and bystanders.
The driver, Bronx resident Richard Rojas, a 26year-old U.S. Navy veteran, told officers he was hearing voices and expected to die, two law enforcement officials said.
Helpless pedestrians had little time to react as the car barreled down the sidewalk and through intersections before smashing into a row of steel security barriers installed in recent years to prevent vehicle attacks on the square where massive crowds gather every New Year’s Eve. The car came to rest with its two right wheels in the air.
“He didn’t stop,” said Asa Lowe, of Brooklyn, who was standing outside a store when he heard screaming as people scat- tered. “He just kept going.”
A quick-acting restaurant worker played a key role in stopping the fleeing driver.
Ken Bradix has been a bouncer at Planet Hollywood for 17 years. He says he was walking toward the eatery when the car barreled down the sidewalk and hit a pole, and Rojas got out and started running away.
Bradix says Rojas got away from three people who tried to grab him. So, Bradix says, he tackled the 26-year-old from the side, taking him to the ground. Police then handcuffed him.
Police said 23 people were hit by the car, including an 18-year-old tourist who died. Police identified the woman as Alyssa Elsman, from Portage, Michigan. Elsman’s 13-year-old sister was among the injured.
A fire department chief, Mark Foris, was at an unrelated elevator rescue when he saw the car speed by.
“This is more than just a car accident,” he thought as he walked among bleeding victims.
The carnage raised immediate fears of terrorism, fueled by recent attacks in England, France and Germany in which vehicles plowed through crowds of pedestrians. But investigators quickly turned their focus to the sobriety and mental health of the driver.
“There is no indication that this was an act of terrorism,” Mayor Bill de Blasio said.
Photographers snapped pictures of Rojas after he climbed from the wrecked car and ran through the street before he was tackled.
Rojas initially tested negative for alcohol, but more detailed testing was being done to determine if he was high, according to two law enforcement officials who were not authorized to speak publicly and spoke to The Associated Press on the condition of anonymity.
The officials said Rojas told officers he had been hearing voices.
A week ago, Rojas was arrested and charged with pointing a knife at a notary, whom he accused of stealing his identity. He pleaded guilty to a harassment violation.
He was arrested on charges of driving while intoxicated in 2008 and 2015, police Commissioner James O’Neill 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.
In previous arrests, he told authorities he believed he was being harassed and followed, one of the law enforcement officials said.