Times Square Chaos As Car Plows Into Pedestrians, Killing At Least One, Officials Say

MIDTOWN MANHATTAN, NY — At least one person was killed and 22 injured after an out-of-control car careened up a Times Square sidewalk Thursday, smashing into crowds of pedestrians before crashing, police and witnesses said. Mayor Bill de Blasio said terrorism was not thought to have been involved.

The fatality was 18-year-old Alyssa Elsman, a tourist from Portage, Michigan, police said. Elsman's sister, 13, was also hurt, officials said.

Of the 22 people injured, four had serious wounds such as open fractures, FDNY Commissioner Daniel Nigro said Thursday. Two of the critically injured were taken to Bellevue Hospital and two were taken to Roosevelt Hospital, Nigro said.

"We’re very hopeful that the fact they were treated here quickly and removed quickly, that they will survive," Nigro said.

Police said the driver, identified as Richard Rojas, 26, from The Bronx, tried to sprint from the wreckage of his car but was chased down by civilians and NYPD officers and arrested. Rojas, a former member of the Navy, was previously arrested in 2008 and 2015 for drinking and driving and was most recently arrested this month for menacing, officials said.

Pictures obtained by TMZ show a man the outlet said was Rojas gesticulating wildly as he ran through the streets. (For updates on the Times Square crash, and more local news, sign up for Patch's free daily newsletters and real-time news alerts.)

Stephen Glickman was in a cab at Broadway and West 45th Street when he saw cops sprinting past him.

"I got out and ran toward them just because when you see people running, you go with them," he said. "I ran up to the corner and there were people lying all over the street, a guy laying on the sidewalk. There was a big piece of a car, like a bumper covered in blood, in the sidewalk and a guard rail torn in half.

"In the middle of the street there was a lady laying on the floor and a bunch of people trying to hold her, keep her head up, and another five to ten feet away another guy completely laid out on the ground."

Alpha Balde, who works for tour company City Sightseeing, said he helped wrestle the driver, holding him by the neck until the police could arrest him.

"The police came in like two minutes," he said. "We were all there, he couldn't go anywhere. So he kept telling me to let his neck go. I said, 'I'm not going to let it go.'"

"The guy looked controlled."

Police Commissioner James O'Neill said Rojas mounted the sidewalk on the west side of Seventh Avenue at 42nd Street and "proceeded to drive at a high rate of speed along the sidewalk from 42nd Street to 45th Street," hitting 23 people before crashing into a metal stanchion.

A badly damaged maroon Honda Accord was seen crashed on the sidewalk at Broadway and West 45th Street, close to a pedestrian plaza and just south of the TKTS booth, with debris scattered on the street all around it. Blocks of Times Square between West 42nd and 47th streets were closed by police as a huge emergency service response descended on the area.

"All of Times Square, the whole thing is a crime scene right now," an officer guarding the cordon said.

De Blasio and Gov. Andrew Cuomo rushed to the scene Thursday afternoon.

"Today’s events at Times Square were nothing short of horrific," Cuomo said.

"I was briefed at the scene by (NYPD) Commissioner O'Neill and saw firsthand the professionalism and diligence of New York’s first responders. As facts continue to emerge, my heart goes out to the victims of this terrible tragedy, as well as their families."

President Donald Trump was also briefed on the situation, White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer tweeted.

Times Square was packed at the time with tourists and the early lunch crowd enjoying unseasonably hot weather. Occupants of nearby offices were told by police that their buildings were being shut down, with nobody being allowed to go in or out.

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Photo courtesy Josh Silverman/Twitter

Additional reporting by Ali Kucukgocmen, Ciara McCarthy and Simone Wilson.