By Forum Staff
Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz announced on Monday that Matthew Lloyd has been charged with allegedly clubbing two men with a metal baseball bat he wielded while riding a skateboard on Saturday in Astoria.
Lloyd, 36, an Astoria resident, was arraigned on charges of attempted murder in the second degree, assault in the first and second degrees, attempted assault in the first and second degrees and criminal possession of a weapon in the fourth degree.
According to the charges:
On Saturday, Aug. 19, at approximately 6:10 p.m., Lloyd, riding a skateboard, approached Jamal Bermudez from behind near the intersection of 19th Street and Ditmars Boulevard and struck him on the back of the head with a metal baseball bat. The victim, 46, fell, struck his head on the pavement and lost consciousness. The defendant fled on his skateboard. Bermudez suffered injuries including bleeding, swelling and lacerations.
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Minutes later, near 20-17 19th St. Lloyd allegedly repeatedly struck Massalis Hristos in the head and face with the bat, causing fractures to his skull, eye socket and face.
Within minutes of the attack on Bermudez, at approximately 6:21 pm, Lloyd, still riding a skateboard, approached 79-year-old Massalis Hristos near 20-17 19th St. and struck him on the head with the metal baseball bat, knocking him to the ground. While the victim was on the ground, Lloyd repeatedly struck him in the head and face with the bat, causing fractures to his skull, eye socket and face. The victim underwent surgery in an effort to save his eye and remains hospitalized.
Lloyd was arrested a short distance away less than an hour after the second attack in possession of a skateboard and a metal bat.
“The randomness of the attacks is as frightening as their brutality. As a city, we cannot concede our neighborhoods to those who would randomly attack,” Katz said. “The defendant will be held to account for his alleged actions.”
If convicted of attempted murder, Lloyd faces up to 25 years in prison.
