NYC crash hits too close to home

Holly Mayhew just wanted to take one more photo. Her daughter and two friends agreed, although they were anxious to see the sights of Times Square. It wasn’t until after they left the cafe at noon May 18 that Mayhew realized how momentous the photo would turn out to be.

“I was rushing them out because I wanted to show them a few more things,” said Mayhew, a chaperone of a Mariner Middle School field trip that had traveled to New York City for a Broadway show.

“As we walked out of the cafe, the car was at the second block,” she said. “People were down and bleeding on the sidewalk. I just grabbed the girls and got out of there.”

Mayhew said there were dozens of people on the ground, mowed down by a car that careened along a Times Square sidewalk. A Bronx man is in custody after police say he deliberately drove onto the sidewalk, killed one girl and injured about 20 others.

For about two blocks, Mayhew said, she led the girls through the mayhem toward the safety of the Majestic Theatre, where the rest of the Mariner group safely met. Mayhew, who has a background in nursing, said she was able to keep calm. But when the lights dimmed for the afternoon showing of “The Phantom of the Opera,” the magnitude of what happened sank in.

“I started thinking about it, and I started shaking,” she said.

Parent Daria Rowe said she is forever grateful for the photo. “If they had not stopped to take that picture … well, I shudder to think what could have happened,” she said.

Milton parent Kristin Patterson also accompanied a group of students, and they were heading to Times Square for lunch when they heard and saw the commotion.

“We could see people all on the ground,” she said. “It was really awful. We were walking toward where it happened.”

Patterson said she quickly redirected the group out of the area. “Police were in SWAT gear because no one knew what was going on,” she said.

The Mariner group used social media to contact everyone who had split off to sightsee before the show. It took about an hour for the group to reunite at the theater, she said. “It’s amazing how social media works,” she said. “We were truly blessed that nothing happened.”

Struck but survived

Lewes resident Charlotte Bastian was having lunch with a friend at Irish Eyes when she first heard about the Times Square tragedy.

“My daughter called and told me to go in and watch the television because it was breaking news,” she said.

The images from Times Square showed the aftermath of injuries and confusion about the driver’s intent. Bastian's son-in-law, Andy McCollough, was the second person struck by the car.

“He flew over the front of the car and was drug a few feet,” she said.

The 54-year-old from McLean, Va., was in New York City for a business meeting. He was heading to the station to take a train home when he was struck. Bastian credits his good health and athleticism for allowing him to walk away with a broken wrist and stitches in his finger.

McCollough is sore and bruised, Bastian said, but the family is thankful that his injuries are not worse.

As McCollough lay on the pavement, Bastian said, he was impressed with the response by police and the kindness of strangers. “A man came by and gathered his things and sat with Andy until help came,” she said.

Bastian said McCollough saw the driver after his car flipped onto its side after hitting a metal barrier. “He was ranting and raving, and it seemed like he wanted police to shoot him,” she said.

Bronx resident Richard Rojas was charged with second-degree murder, five counts of aggravated vehicular homicide and 20 counts of attempted murder. Rojas was traveling south on Seventh Avenue at 11:55 a.m. when he made a U-turn and speeded onto the sidewalk at W. 42nd Street, police said.