Times Square Car Crash Suspect Richard Rojas Discharged After Special Court Martial

UPDATE: 11:57 p.m. EDT- The suspect in the Times Square car crash, Richard Rojas, was charged with murder, aggravated vehicular manslaughter and 20 counts of attempted murder after he killed one woman and left 22 people injured.

Original Story:

26-year-old Richard Rojas from the Bronx, who sent his maroon Honda Accord careening through three blocks in Times Square on Thursday afternoon, was discharged following a special court-martial Thursday evening, a Navy official told the Washington Post. However, details of the case were not immediately available.

Rojas was arrested from the crime scene Thursday after he lost control of his car, killing an 18-year-old Michigan woman named Alyssa Elsman and leaving 22 others injured.

Rojas was said to have served in the U.S. military and he was enlisted in the Navy in 2011. He was an electrician’s mate fireman apprentice. According to Navy records obtained by the Washington Post, he was most recently based at the Naval Air Station in Jacksonville, Florida, and was discharged from there in 2014. The records also showed that in 2013 the assailant had spent two months at a naval brig in Charleston, South Carolina. However, the Navy records do not specify the reason behind his stay.

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The accused tried to flee after the incident but was arrested and taken from Midtown to the Seventh Precinct to undergo drug and alcohol testing.

Police confirmed Rojas passed the breathalyzer test, however, he admitted to smoking marijuana before driving the car and tested positive for PCP. He told police “God made him do it” and also said he expected the police to shoot him after he was caught, CNN reported.

Some of the suspect’s friends told the police that he had “psychological issues” and had been behaving weird since he came back from active duty in the Navy. One of his friends, Harrison Ramos told the Washington Post that Rojas had been posting “crazy stuff” on social media, which might have been taken down later.

Witnesses told the New York Post that he was “driving like a madman and was screaming”.

“It looked like he was trying to hit people. He had the angriest, craziest face and he was literally going after people,” Michael Rickerby, a 24-year-old tourist from Tennessee said.

This was not the first time Rojas had a run-in with the law; he was arrested twice for drunk driving, in 2008 and 2015. Police authorities also said he was arrested just last week when he allegedly pulled a kitchen knife on a visitor at his Bronx home.

In April 2015, he was arrested for Driving While Impaired (DWI) in Manhattan and also pleaded guilty to the offense later.

He was also arrested in 2012 on suspicion of battery at the Mayport Naval Base in Jacksonville, Florida, where he was stationed at that time. According to a police report that year about the incident, the officials said that he arrested Rojas on suspicion that he had beaten a cab driver on the naval base, CBS New York reported.

The report also specified that Rojas admitted he had “beaten the s--- out of that cab driver and I’ll tell you why — he said I owe him $162. I beat the s--- out of him. He disrespected me!”

New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo issued a statement after the incident. “Today’s events at Times Square were nothing short of horrific,” Cuomo said.

“I was briefed at the scene by 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,” he added.