USA - Long track record: arrest #26!

[John Ashworth]

LONG TRACK RECORD – ARREST #26
Railways Africa
Thursday, 05 February 2009

In 1981, Darius McCollum took the controls of a New York underground train full of passengers at the 34th Street station in Manhattan and drove them to the World Trade Centre. He was just 15. Since then, he has been arrested 26 times for misdemeanours on the system. In 2004, telling officials he wanted to learn how to drive one of the newest trains, he was caught with a set of stolen railway keys and sent to the state prison. He was paroled in 2006 but sent back for violating the conditions set down.

In the latest incident, a conductor recognised McCollum from a "be-on-the-lookout" bulletin. When approached, he produced a badge and bogus "National Justice Bureau" ID card. A diagnosis of Asperger's Syndrome, a form of autism, has not kept him out of jail.