The senior shoved onto the 47-50 Sts Rockefeller Center station subway tracks during the early hours of Wednesday spoke with amNewYork about the horrific incident that he said could have killed him.
Rooney Thomas, 72, said he was waiting standing on a northbound F and D train platform around 4 a.m. when he heard an argument unfold. Moments later, he said he was minding his own business when a man approached him from behind.
“I was just standing on the platform. He walked right up behind me, pushed me,” Thomas told amNewYork. “He could have killed me.”
Thomas landed on the roadbed and, according to him, instantly broke his collarbone. Good samaritans tried to aid him but they said they couldn’t lift him because he was in so much pain.
“They tried to help me, but you know, how are you gonna pull somebody up with a broken collarbone? So, I walked to the end. There’s little steps at the end of every platform. You know, where the red lights are and the green lights are. I walked up the steps,” Thomas said.
The senior was able to make his way back onto the platform before a train pulled into the station. EMS responded and rushed him to Mount Sinai West Hospital for treatment, where he says he suffered a broken collarbone.
“I am in a lot of pain.” I am hoping they can just reset this thing,” Thomas said.
Meanwhile, the alleged perpetrator, 40-year-old Francisco Garcia was taken into custody by police and charged with assault and reckless endangerment. The motive for the attack is not clear at this time. Garcia has one prior arrest for domestic violence dating back to 2023.
As of Aug. 1, overall transit crime has increased by 1%, according to the NYPD. Authorities say in July that felony assaults up 27.7% of crime in the subway. Additionally, felony assaults on elderly people increased 150%, accounting for 20.8% of all felony assaults for that month.
Living in Manhattan and originally hailing from Washington D.C, Thomas said he is a retiree who used to drive limousines and plays guitars, but now he says he is going to be extra careful when he returns to the subway.
“I won’t stand near the platform anymore,” Thomas said. “There are a lot of maniacs down there.”
