Darius McCollum, who has been arrested 29 times before for posing as a New York City transit worker, was arrested again today for allegedly stealing a Greyhound Bus from New York Port Authority Bus Terminal.
The Greyhound bus was located via an on-board GPS locator after it went missing. Police found the bus with only McCollum on board after about three hours.
McCollum was previously arrested and sentenced to two-and-a-half to five years in jail for stealing a Trailways bus in 2010, according to CBS New York.
In 2013, McCollum pleaded guilty to stealing a Trailways bus three years earlier, when he was arrested behind the wheel on the highway that leads to John F. Kennedy International Airport. He was sentenced to 2 1/2 to 5 years in prison.
McCollum was ordered as part of his 2013 plea deal to voluntarily enter a program to undergo cognitive behavioral therapy. He was diagnosed with what was until recently called Asperger’s syndrome but is now referred to as an autism spectrum disorder, and officials said his repeated arrests stem in part from it.
McCollum had the subway map memorized by the time he was 8, and tried unsuccessfully to get a job with the transit system. Instead he became a transit impostor and has been arrested 29 times. But he is not a violent criminal – he just drives the routes, fixes tracks and takes tolls without an official job until he’s caught by police.
McCollum is somewhat of a celebrity for his obsession with posing as a New York transit worker, having grown up in the city and starting his impersonations at the age of 15 when he commandeered the E train for six stops before anyone noticed. Following a plea deal after his 2013 conviction, filmmakers went to work on a as-of-yet released documentary following his life.
In 2006, he went to jail for commandeering a Long Island Rail Road train and has been caught dozens of times throughout his life working on tracks and taking tolls, though he has never been able to actually be employed as a transit worker. He has spent almost a third of his life in jail for transit-related crimes.
According to CBS New York, as of 6 PM ET he has not been formally charged with anything.
Darius McCollum: hero or menace?
PHOTO CREDIT: New York’s PIX 11
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