NEW YORK (AP) — The man behind the wheel of the car that barreled through crowds of pedestrians in New York City’s Times Square, killing a woman and injuring 22 other people, is finally headed to trial five years later. Opening statements are expected Monday in the trial of Richard Rojas, a 31-year-old U.S. Navy veteran who told police after his arrest that he had been smoking marijuana laced with the hallucinogenic drug PCP before plowing through helpless tourists in the Manhattan landmark known as “the crossroads of the world.” Eighteen-year-old Alyssa Elsman of Michigan was killed. Rojas pleaded not guilty in 2017.
Photo: FILE- A smashed car sits on the corner of Broadway and 45th Street in New York’s Times Square after several were injured when the car was driven into a crowd of pedestrians on May 18, 2017. Richard Rojas, the man behind the wheel of the car that barreled through crowds of pedestrians in New York City’s Times Square, killing a woman and injuring 22 other people, is finally headed to trial, Monday, May 9, 2022, after various delays over five years, including pandemic-induced court shutdowns.(AP Photo/Seth Wenig, File)