A car drove the wrong way through a busy Times Square on Thursday, killing an 18-year-old woman and injuring 22 others, officials said.

  • 1 dead, 22 hurt after car crashes into pedestrians
  • Collision happened at about noon in Times Square
  • Driver taken into custody, New York Police Department says

The suspected driver of the vehicle, 26-year-old Richard Rojas, of the Bronx, has been taken into custody, police said.

According to police, it all began at about 11:55 a.m. when the vehicle was moving at a high rate of speed on the sidewalk along 7th Avenue, from 42nd Street to 45th Street, striking pedestrians along the heavily congested stretch.

The vehicle came to rest at the intersection of 45th Street and Broadway with two of its wheels in the air, leaning on a lamp post and steel barriers intended to block vehicles from getting onto the sidewalk.

An 18-year-old woman, Alyssa Elsman from Michigan, died because of the crash, police said.

Four other people were listed in critical condition. Police said Elsman's 13-year-old sister is one of the others injured in the crash.

Rojas has two prior arrests for driving while intoxicated, police said.

Sources told NY1, a sister station, that preliminary field tests and statements Rojas made show that he was not intoxicated on alcohol, but instead from something he "smoked."

Sources also told NY1 that Rojas spoke about hearing voices Thursday and during a previous arrest.

Rojas told officers he was hearing voices and expected to die, the AP reported.

"We all feel deeply right now for those who were injured and for their families," Mayor Bill de Blasio said during an afternoon news conference.

The AP also reported that Rojas was arrested last week after he pointed a knife at a notary and accused the notary of stealing his identity.