Timeline of events revealed in deadly Times Square pedestrian crash
TIMES SQUARE, Manhattan (WABC) -- The NYPD revealed a timeline of events in a horrific and deadly pedestrian crash in Times Square that killed a tourist and injured 20 others.
Richard Rojas, 26, of the Bronx, was arrested and charged with second-degree murder for allegedly driving his car up a Seventh Avenue sidewalk. Police said he plowed through a crowd of people at a high rate of speed.
Here's a minute-by-minute timeline, as released by police:
10:30: Rojas leaves his home in the Bronx
11:00: Rojas plate is scanned as he enters Manhattan from the Bronx
11:48: Rojas is driving southbound on Broadway at 52nd Street
11:50: Rojas is on 48th Street and Seventh Avenue
11:52: Rojas is on 47th Street and Seventh Avenue
11:54: The first 911 call comes in. Surveillance video shows him in the left lane on Seventh Avenue. As he approaches 42nd Street, he slows down, allows traffic to pass and then makes a right turn onto the sidewalk.
Police said Rojas accelerates as he turns onto the sidewalk and starts to strike down the first pedestrians.
As he gets to the area between 42nd and 43rd streets, he strikes Alyssa Elsman, an 18-year-old tourist from Michigan who died at the scene.
He continues on, all while accelerating the vehicle. The car keeps going - up to 44th and 45th streets, even going under a scaffold at one point.
Police said parts of Rojas' car come off as he's striking pedestrians - including a side-view mirror and license plates. People were being dragged, they were on top of the car.
PHOTOS: Car plows into crowd in Times Square
The run ends when Rojas struck a metal security pole at 45th Street and Seventh Avenue. Rojas gets out of his car and encounters a traffic agent and they fall to the ground.
Other Good Samaritans and on/off-duty law enforcement officers apprehended Rojas.
While in custody, Rojas allegedly told police that he was high on PCP-laced marijuana and his intent was to "kill them all" and that officers should have shot him.
Twenty people were taken to the hospital for their injuries. All are expected to survive.
