A driver who crashed his car into pedestrians on the sidewalk in New York City's Times Square on Thursday morning tested positive for synthetic marijuana, multiple outlets are reporting.
Richard Rojas, 26, lost control of his vehicle just before noon on Thursday. His vehicle hopped the curb, killing one, 18-year-old Alyssa Elsman, and injuring 22, the New York City Police Department confirmed.
Rojas reportedly tested positive for synthetic marijuana, otherwise known as spice or K2, after he was brought into police custody.
NYPD officials declined to confirm the report to Business Insider, and would only say their "investigation is ongoing."
Rojas, a Bronx resident and Navy veteran, was previously arrested for a DUI in 2008 and 2015, reports Pix11. He was also reportedly charged with menacing earlier this month.
Synthetic marijuana is a lab-produced, mind-altering drug that's been soaring in popularity in recent years. It's illegal to purchase and consume in New York state.
Giantunderground laboratories, many of which are in China, are churning out thousands of pounds of the stuff. In 2015, the DEA arrested a man whose lab likely produced the chemicals in some 70% of the spice sold in the US, the New York Times reported.
Although it's often marketed as a "safer alternative to traditional marijuana," spice is dangerous — it's been reported to cause seizures, psychosis, and vomiting, among other side effects.
Here's what you need to know about synthetic marijuana:
SEE ALSO: Driver crashes car into pedestrians in New York City's Times Square
This is spice. It looks fairly harmless — like herbs in a shiny package — but it isn't.
Reports suggest that since 2009, drugs like spice, or synthetic marijuana, have killed roughly 1,000 Americans — many of them young people in high school.
The drugmakers change up the specific ingredients in the drugs so fast — and produce them in such massive quantities — that drug enforcement can't keep up.
See the rest of the story at Business Insider