SHARE

'Jesus Made Me Do It': NJ Driver Who Plowed Into Midtown Pedestrians Heard Voices, Mom Says

A New Jersey woman who was charged with multiple counts of attempted murder for mowing down seven pedestrians in midtown Manhattan and then taking off allegedly told city police that "Jesus made me do it."

Imani Lucas

Imani Lucas

Photo Credit: FACEBOOK (Imani Lucas)

Imani Lucas, 29, was wearing a "Good Vibes" t-shirt and handcuffs during a perp walk from the NYPD's Midtown South stationhouse on West 35th Street near Madison Square Garden on Tuesday, Aug. 22.

A judge later ordered that Lucas remain held as the case against her proceeds.

Lucas is charged with seven counts each of attempted murder, assault, reckless endangerment, leaving the scene of an accident and reckless driving in connection with the Sunday night Aug. 20 crash.

Video obtained by CBS News New York shows Lucas's Honda Accord slamming into the pedestrians as they crossed Sixth Avenue from the northeast corner of West 36th Street.

SEE: Driver Accused Of Striking Pedestrians (CBS News New York)

Lucas fled and then got into a second collision in Queens less than a half-hour later. She apparently called her mother right after that.

Lucas -- who lives with her parents in the Belle Mead section of Montgomery Township, just outside Princeton -- suffers from bipolar disorder and may have been having an episode, her mother told The Gothamist.

She was hearing voices at the time, Melissa Lucas said.

“I asked her, I said, ‘Imani, where are you?’ " she told The Gothamist. "She didn't know where she was, she didn't know where she was going. She said, ‘I'm just driving.'

"And I said, 'Where are you?’ ‘I don't know, I don't know.’ 

"And then that's when I think I heard a police officer coming up to her talking, and then I heard something like Bayside, Queens.”

SEE: Driver charged with crashing into Midtown pedestrians had mental health condition, family says

Lucas was treated at Long Island Jewish Medical Center before being brought back to Manhattan for her first court appearance.

Her social media profile says Lucas attended Rutgers and Cornell universities, as well as the prestigious Miss Porter's School in Connecticut. She'd recently worked for a Manhattan-based fundraising consulting firm for nonprofits, it says.

Lucas was a member of the National Society of Leadership and Success at Rutgers, where she also served on the executive board of the Rutgers Photography Club, according to her profile. She later worked on a congressional campaign and dabbled in portrait photography, it says.

It's unclear where Lucas was headed Sunday night, although authorities believe she'd driven all the way from her parents' home more than 50 miles southwest of the city.

Video shows the Accord blowing a red light and then knocking pedestrians down like tenpins.

Lucas reportedly was saying a prayer when the sedan slammed into six men and a woman, who police said ranged in age from 24 to 61, at 11:53 p.m. Sunday.

A few landed amid bags of garbage set out at the curb. Thankfully, none suffered life-threatening injuries, although authorities said one -- a 27-year-old man -- had both legs broken.

One of the seven refused medical attention at the scene, they added.

Two were identified as tourists from Italy -- a tennis instructor and her graphic designer husband, who reportedly suffered spinal cord damage that required a five-hour operation.

The photos that ended up in the public realm were ghastly. Some of the victims were unconscious and spattered with blood. Good Samaritans rushed to their aid.

Lucas, meanwhile, kept going toward and through the Queens-Midtown Tunnel, the NYPD said.

She ended up hitting two vehicles on the Long Island Expressway before the Accord became disabled near the 188th Street exit, the NYPD said.

Lucas tested negative for alcohol, said police who ran her license plate and tied her to the midtown incident. No injuries were reported in the second crash.

to follow Daily Voice Edison and receive free news updates.

SCROLL TO NEXT ARTICLE