MAYHEM IN TIMES SQUARE
Driver strikes 23 in Times Square
Passersby help injured pedestrians Thursday, moments after a car slammed into them in Times Square in New York City. One person was killed and 22 others were injured in the incident, blamed on a drunken driver.
NEW YORK — A man steered his car onto a sidewalk running through Times Square and mowed down pedestrians for three blocks Thursday, killing a teenager, then emerged from his wrecked vehicle wild-eyed and screaming before he was subdued by police and bystanders.
The driver, a 26-year-old 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 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.
Police said 23 people were struck, including an 18-year-old tourist from Michigan who died. The woman’s 13-year-old sister was among the injured.
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, identified as Bronx resident Richard Rojas.
“There is no indication that this was an act of terrorism,” Mayor Bill de Blasio said.
Photographers snapped pictures of Mr. Rojas after he climbed from the wrecked car and ran through the street before he was tackled by a group that included a muscular security supervisor at a nearby Planet Hollywood restaurant.
“He began screaming, no particular words but just utter screaming. He was swinging his arms at the same time, said the bouncer, Ken Bradix. “There was something wrong with him.”
Mr. Rojas initially tested negative for alcohol, but more detailed drug tests were pending, 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 Mr. Rojas told officers he had been hearing voices.
A week ago, Mr. 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.
Police identified the woman killed by the car as Alyssa Elsman, of Portage, Mich.
In the Bronx, neighborhood acquaintances said Mr. Rojas was a friendly man who had been having problems. Harrison Ramos said Mr. Rojas wasn’t the same when he came back from active duty in 2014.
“He’s been going through a real tough time,” he said.