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2017 Times Square car attack
On May 18, 2017, a car was crashed in Times Square, New York City, United States. One person was killed and 20 were injured. Navy veteran Richard Rojas was charged with one count of second degree murder, 18 attempted murders and 38 assaults, for which he was found not responsible because of insanity.
After being detained, Rojas was found to have ingested phencyclidine before the crash. When interviewed by the NYPD, Rojas said he wanted to die in a "suicide by cop", and that he had been hearing voices. In a jailhouse news interview three days later, he said he did not remember the incident or any statements he made afterward.
A year later, multiple liability lawsuits were filed between Rojas, victims, and the city.
Richard Rojas, the driver of a maroon 2009 Honda Accord, sped into pedestrians in Times Square after having jumped the sidewalk on the west side of Seventh Avenue at 42nd Street, outside the Reuters Building. He continued for three blocks before crashing into traffic bollards at the northwest corner of 45th Street and Seventh Avenue, at Broadway. As Rojas was trying to leave his car, a traffic agent tackled him and took him into custody. After having exited the car Rojas said: "I wanted to kill them," according to prosecutors.
Alyssa Elsman, an 18-year-old tourist from Portage, Michigan, was killed and 20 people were injured, four critically.
Richard Rojas (born 1991), a 26-year-old resident of the Bronx and a military veteran, was arrested and charged after the crash. He previously served in the United States Navy and had two prior arrests for driving under the influence. These arrests came in 2008 and 2015. He enlisted in the Navy in 2011 and was an electrician's mate fireman apprentice. In 2012, he served aboard the destroyer USS Carney. He was most recently based at Naval Air Station Jacksonville and was discharged in 2014.
Rojas was arrested in September 2012 after assaulting a cab driver and yelling at an officer, "My life is over", and threatening to kill police officers after his release. He also spent two months in military prison in 2013. A neighbor said his family was Dominican. One of his friends said Rojas had developed a drinking problem after his military service, using it as medication for his "dark thoughts and moods", and posted what the friend described as "demonic" content on social media. According to authorities and his friends, his mental health issues dated back to his childhood though he never sought psychiatric care, becoming more paranoid and increasing his intake of marijuana and alcohol.
Rojas was obsessed with Scientology and had accumulated literature on the religion. He recently got back his car after it was repossessed a short time before the incident. A week before the incident, he was arrested and charged with pointing a knife at a notary, whom he accused of stealing his identity.
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2017 Times Square car attack
On May 18, 2017, a car was crashed in Times Square, New York City, United States. One person was killed and 20 were injured. Navy veteran Richard Rojas was charged with one count of second degree murder, 18 attempted murders and 38 assaults, for which he was found not responsible because of insanity.
After being detained, Rojas was found to have ingested phencyclidine before the crash. When interviewed by the NYPD, Rojas said he wanted to die in a "suicide by cop", and that he had been hearing voices. In a jailhouse news interview three days later, he said he did not remember the incident or any statements he made afterward.
A year later, multiple liability lawsuits were filed between Rojas, victims, and the city.
Richard Rojas, the driver of a maroon 2009 Honda Accord, sped into pedestrians in Times Square after having jumped the sidewalk on the west side of Seventh Avenue at 42nd Street, outside the Reuters Building. He continued for three blocks before crashing into traffic bollards at the northwest corner of 45th Street and Seventh Avenue, at Broadway. As Rojas was trying to leave his car, a traffic agent tackled him and took him into custody. After having exited the car Rojas said: "I wanted to kill them," according to prosecutors.
Alyssa Elsman, an 18-year-old tourist from Portage, Michigan, was killed and 20 people were injured, four critically.
Richard Rojas (born 1991), a 26-year-old resident of the Bronx and a military veteran, was arrested and charged after the crash. He previously served in the United States Navy and had two prior arrests for driving under the influence. These arrests came in 2008 and 2015. He enlisted in the Navy in 2011 and was an electrician's mate fireman apprentice. In 2012, he served aboard the destroyer USS Carney. He was most recently based at Naval Air Station Jacksonville and was discharged in 2014.
Rojas was arrested in September 2012 after assaulting a cab driver and yelling at an officer, "My life is over", and threatening to kill police officers after his release. He also spent two months in military prison in 2013. A neighbor said his family was Dominican. One of his friends said Rojas had developed a drinking problem after his military service, using it as medication for his "dark thoughts and moods", and posted what the friend described as "demonic" content on social media. According to authorities and his friends, his mental health issues dated back to his childhood though he never sought psychiatric care, becoming more paranoid and increasing his intake of marijuana and alcohol.
Rojas was obsessed with Scientology and had accumulated literature on the religion. He recently got back his car after it was repossessed a short time before the incident. A week before the incident, he was arrested and charged with pointing a knife at a notary, whom he accused of stealing his identity.