Richard Rojas 26-year-old of the Bronx is identified as The driver has been kill Alyssa Elsman 18-year-old woman was killed and 22 other people were injured when a car barreled through Times Square. Police quickly tackled him and rushed him away from the bloody scene. Rojas was calm and quiet as police later led him out of the precinct hours later – a marked difference from just a few hours earlier. He was seen in a crosswalk moments before the crash, as looking completely crazed before he was taken into custody.
Family friends say Rojas has been living on Walton Avenue in the Mount Eden section of the Bronx with his mother after serving in the armed forces. Mayor Bill de Blasio said he is a U.S. citizen and former member of the U.S. Navy. He served in the Navy from July 2011 to March 2014 and spent two months in the brig in Charleston, South Carolina after being court martialed, CBS News reported. It was not clear whether the court martial was related to the arrest in the assault on the cab driver or for another reason. The arrest report said Rojas threatened to kill all police and military police officers he would see upon being released from jail.
Authorities say Rojas does have a criminal record, including multiple DWI charges. Just last Thursday, Rojas was arrested for menacing after he allegedly pulled a kitchen knife on a visitor to his Bronx home. In April 2015, he was arrested for DWI in Manhattan and later pleaded guilty to operating a motor vehicle while impaired by alcohol. In August 2008, he was also arrested for DWI in Queens. Rojas was also arrested on suspicion of battery in 2012 at the Mayport Naval Base in Jacksonville, Florida, where he was stationed at the time. In a report, a police officer said he pulled over a green Honda that Rojas was driving on Sept. 23, 2012, and took Rojas into custody on suspicion that Rojas had beaten a cab driver on the naval base.
Alyssa Elsman Profile - Killed In Times Square
