Times Square Rampage Driver Indicted On Murder Charges, DA Says

MIDTOWN MANHATTAN, NY — A man accused of driving his car into a crowd of pedestrians in Times Square, killing one and injuring 22, was formally indicted on murder charges Thursday, prosecutors from the Manhattan District Attorney's office told Patch.

Richard Rojas, 26, will face two counts of second-degree murder, 18 counts of second-degree attempted murder, 20 counts of first-degree assault and 18 counts of second-degree assault, prosecutors said.

On May 18, Rojas drove his Honda accord down the sidewalk on Seventh Avenue from West 42nd to 45th Street streets, prosecutors said. Rojas, a resident of the Bronx, came to a stop after crashing into a metal bollard and was chased down by civilians and NYPD officers.

While Rojas was being arrested he shouted, "I wanted to kill them," according to a criminal complaint from the Manhattan District Attorney's office. After Rojas was arrested he told a police officer, "I smoked marijuana. I laced the marijuana with PCP," according to the complaint.

Alyssa Elsman, an 18-year-old woman visiting New York City, was killed during the rampaged and her 13-year-old sister Ava was also injured, prosecutors said. The Elsman siblings, who were in the city with their mother and friends, were due to return to Michigan the day of the accident.

Most of the people injured during the rampage were sent to hospitals, prosecutors said. Five people were hospitalized in critical condition and one person remains in the hospital to this day, according to the DA's office.

"The site of this rampage is one of the busiest in New York City: more than 300,000 pedestrians visit Times Square every day," Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance said in a statement. "As is alleged in the indictment, this defendant put the lives of each person who had the misfortune to cross his path in danger when he intentionally drove his car onto the sidewalk, striking and killing a young woman visiting our city and injuring 18 others."

Rojas, a former member of the Navy, was previously arrested in 2008 and 2015 for drinking and driving and was arrested in May for menacing, officials said.

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Photo by Jefferson Siegel/Associated Press