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#1 Transit Superfan McCollum Stole Two Buses This Month
By
Ben Yakas
Published Sep 1, 2010
Modified Sep 1, 2010
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By
Ben Yakas
Published Sep 1, 2010
Modified Sep 1, 2010
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The lovable Darius McCollum, NYC's #1 mass transit enthusiast, was arraigned today after his 27th arrest yesterday, for stealing a bus. McCollum's last arrest was in 2008, but it turns out he was keeping busy in the between: He stole another bus just 20 days ago!
Cops say that McCollum slipped aboard the empty Trailways bus in a Hoboken, NJ maintenance facility yesterday, found a key in the ignition and headed east in rush-hour traffic. He was wearing a wanna-be driver's uniform of black pants, blue button-down shirt and brown shoes, and carrying a Koran and manuals from the Federal Emergency Management Agency. According to police, he gave up with no resistance and "acted like a gentleman."
After he was caught, McCollum, who suffers from Asperger's syndrome, told the arresting officers, "I'll bet they won't leave the keys in the ignition. I'll bet they'll be more careful now." His mother, Elizabeth McCollum, offered a warning to the airline industry: "He loves trains more than anything else—buses are his second choice. He loves planes, too, but he hasn't been able to get on one of those yet."
McCollum faces 15 years in prison if convicted of swiping the Trailways bus yesterday; he is currently being held on $100,000 bond. At court this morning, his lawyer Stephen Jackson said McCollum need psychiatric care, not jail: “I think the objective here is to address his disorder. It’s the nature of the disease. He cannot help himself. He’s fixated on trains and buses and anything that has to do with transit." Jackson also refuted claims that McCollum was homeless, and said he has been living with his fiancee.
Tagged
asperger's syndrome
bus
darius mccollum
MTA
nyc transit
Ben Yakas
Ben Yakas is a former Gothamist reporter.
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