A Queens man on Wednesday was sentenced to more than a decade in prison for violently attacking an elderly man on a Long Island Rail Road train platform at Atlantic Terminal and pushing him onto the tracks.
Brooklyn District Attorney Eric Gonzalez identified the defendant as Matthew Lloyd, 38, of Queens. He was sentenced to 13 years in prison and five years of post-release supervision. The defendant was convicted of second-degree attempted murder on April 10, 2025, following a jury trial.
On Aug. 18, 2023, at approximately 4:20pm, the victim, a 77-year-old man, was standing on the Track 5 of the LIRR at the Atlantic Terminal when the defendant approached and, without provocation, punched him multiple times in the face. The defendant then pushed the victim off the platform, causing him to fall approximately five feet onto the tracks and strike his head near the electrified third rail. The defendant fled the scene on foot.
According to video evidence, the victim was rescued from the tracks by a LIRR mechanical foreman, who heard the victim’s screams and immediately called to stop train traffic on Track 5. Trains are sometimes diverted between tracks and his actions may have prevented the victim from being struck, according to Gonzalez.
The victim suffered significant and ongoing pain for several months after the attack and continues to struggle with mobility. He also suffers from lasting vision and memory impairments caused by the head injury he sustained when he was pushed onto the tracks, the DA said.
“This was a horrific and unprovoked attack on a 77-year-old man at one of our busiest transit hubs, and the victim could have been killed had it not been for the quick action of a transit worker," Gonzalez said in a statement. "We’ve made real progress improving safety in our transit system, and we will not allow anyone to jeopardize that.”
