Trial starts for driver who ran down Times Square tourists
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, went on trial Monday after various delays over five years, including pandemic-induced court shutdowns.
In an opening statement, prosecutor Alfred Peterson told a Manhattan jury that Richard Rojas was well aware of the carnage he was causing by plowing through helpless tourists in 2017 visiting the popular destination known as “the crossroads of the world.”
It was “impossible for him not to know exactly what was happening,” Peterson said. “But he didn’t stop.”