Avid Subway Enthusiast Arrested Again

Darius McCollum, the minor cult figure among train buffs and subway enthusiasts, was arrested again this morning after being caught in a restricted area at Columbus Circle . McCollum is such a well known figure, that police recognized him on sight boarding an uptown 1 train at Times Square wearing a blue transit worker-like uniform and gloves that bore a NYC Transit patch. They followed him when got off the train at Columbus Circle and arrested him when he bypassed a barricade at the station.

This probably means that the hardest non-working man in NYC Transit could be headed back to Sing Sing. He pleaded guilty to attempting to steal a locomotive when caught in a LIRR railyard in 2005, but was released in 2006. He was re-imprisoned for violating his parole when he was caught possessing railroad property.

Defenders of McCollum's odd behavior--although he's been arrested many times, he's never hurt anyone--claim that the 43-year-old has Asperger's Syndrome, a form of autism that reveals itself as an extreme preoccupation with a certain subject. A play titled "Boy Steals Train", was eventually written and performed to acclaim in 2003. A thorough account of Darius McCollum and his overabundant love of trains can be found in a 2002 Harper's Magazine profile.

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By Dave Hogarty in News on June 14, 2008 2:40 PM

Comments [rss]

kearnj

So they are going to put the guy in prison? Seems like there are worse offenders out there if you ask me. I'm just saying...

emilydickinson

If we didn't live in such an overly paranoid, litigious society, the MTA would have hired him years ago and this would be a classic American success story. Anyone obsessed enough with the subway to want to spend their free time there should get that chance. Even if they just hired to stand in Grand Central and answers tourists questions, or work at the Transit Museum, it would have prevented him getting arrested repeatedly.

JacqueMehoff

I feel bad now. they showed him on the news, he's a grown boy. I'm sure many UWS'ers know Asperger's syndrome, but then those grown boys never hijacked a train. not yet.

BIE SubChat

He is sick.

I like trains but I keep it legal. Darius needs to get some model trains and run those. Note to Darius: Leave running the real ones to the trained professionals.

dadoc

To the Judge:

Sentence him to 20 Years to life, after training, with pay & benefits, working Maintenance/cleaning/Token booth (nothing public safety) wearing a GPS during work in case he purloins a train. Guaranteed never a sick day, motivated employee, top notch service to the public, not a loafer. Prob will never want to retire, so save money on pension. NYCTA will get it's money's worth, unlike with many of it's other employees. Prob solved.

Spirit of 76

Why bother linking to Harper's when non-subscribers can't read it?

The MTA should really hire McCollum. I know people wouldn't be comfortable with him driving trains, but isn't there some non-critical position that could use someone with his extensive knowledge and interest? Maybe some kind of desk job. So few people get to do what they really love in their jobs, instead having to settle for what they can do. I'm sure more than a few MTA workers are just there for the paychecks.

smallish

Dave,

I struggle with reading nearly every article you write. I have absolutely no interest in mean spiritedness but your writing really needs work. Your last sentence is left unfinished, numerous typos punctuate your work, and your sentences are at times very difficult to follow. The aside in the first sentence of your last paragraph, for instance, would fare far better standing on its own as a complete sentence, or somehow incorporated into the sentence less randomly.

In your posting 'Scorned Woman is Sentenced for Branding Incident,' you mention the name of Testagrossa in the last paragraph, without ever clarifying who exactly that is. Readers can assume he is the boyfriend of the sentenced woman, but I feel it's your job to make it so that we don't have to.

Practically every time I find myself stumbling through a Gothamist post, I look to see the author and am actually disappointed to see that it's you again. While I certainly don't come here for Pulitzer Prize quality writing, I do come expecting to read a story I can easily understand and your writing makes that far more difficult than it ought to be.

Kelsey Grammer Police

Dave: check you last sentence: can be found in......?!?!?!?!!?!

trotskie

"A thorough account of Darius McCollum and his overabundant love of trains can be found in...?"

ANGRYGOD11

Wasn't he arrested for stabbing someone in a card game some years ago? If so, I don't gotta love the guy.

Dave Hogarty

[3] Yes, this is that guy. He allegedly had memorized all the subway stops and lines on the system by the time he was five years old. He's kind of stuck in a bind, because his parole requires him to remain in the NYC metro area, where he is constantly surrounded by buses, trains, and subways, but he is not allowed to work for the MTA either, because they fear legal liability. It's sad to hear he was arrested again. The courts have refused to consider the fact that he has Asperger's.

JacqueMehoff

I think the other guy was a kid, also with adhd, down's, autism or whatever the ailment of the month or cause.

dandeluca

Is this the same guy who posed as a conductor and actually ran a subway train for quite a while -- a couple hours, four hours? -- before getting caught? And as I recall he was only caught because he missed the line where the train was supposed to stop in a station by a few feet.

Gotta love this guy. True, he broke the law, but he was so meticulous about learning how to operate the trains and he did it so well that you have to admire him. It's a shame our law-and-order culture wouldn't allow the MTA or some other train outfit to employ the guy, letting him do what he obviously loves the most.

Peter

Singh Singh sounds like a prison in New Delhi.

fdr

What interesting spelling! I assume you mean the police recognized him "on sight", although it's true they also saw him "on site". And the name of the prison is Sing Sing.