Serial bus, train thief with Asperger's syndrome mulls insanity plea offer

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Serial bus, train thief with Asperger's syndrome mulls insanity plea offer

If Darius McCollum agrees to the insanity plea, a panel of doctors will determine his fitness and place him in a mental institution. (JESSE WARD/FOR NEW YORK DAILY NEWS)

BYCHRISTINA CARREGA

NEW YORK DAILY NEWS

Updated: Tuesday, October 3, 2017, 11:31 PM

Notorious public transportation thief Darius McCollum’s latest caper, a joyride on a stolen bus, may be the one that puts him on the road to better mental health.

Brooklyn prosecutors offered him the opportunity to plead guilty for reasons of insanity. If he agrees, a panel of doctors will determine his fitness and place him in a mental institution.

Prosecutors have made several plea offers to McCollum, all involving prison time, since his November 2015 arrest for jumping behind the wheel of the empty bus and taking it out for a spin — for 36 hours.

But McCollum has rejected the offers, ranging from 31/2 to 10 years, which would have shipped him to an upstate prison

The transit thief’s longtime attorney, Sally Butler, has lobbied for McCollum to receive court-ordered mental health treatment, instead of prison, because he’s been diagnosed with Asperger’s syndrome.

McCollum, 51, is a two-time felon whose obsession with buses and trains has resulted in a lengthy criminal record for stealing the vehicles.

Yet his particular condition didn’t qualify him for the mental health treatment.

If McCollum accepts the offer the prosecutor made Tuesday, the judge will conduct a hearing in which a panel of doctors will determine McCollum’s mental fitness.

“The panel will determine if he’s either mentally ill and dangerous, mentally ill and not dangerous or not mentally ill,” Assistant District Attorney Christopher Myco explained to the judge.

Butler requested an adjournment in order for McCollum to review the offer.

“This is not a traditional plea,” the attorney said.

Darius McCollum, with his attorney Sally Butler, at State Supreme Court in Brooklyn on March 21, 2016. (JESSE WARD/FOR NEW YORK DAILY NEWS)

If McCollum takes his chances with a jury and is convicted, he faces five to 15 years in prison for the top count of grand larceny.

After Tuesday’s brief appearance in Brooklyn Supreme Court, McCollum may have some cause for happiness — and relief — after almost 30 arrests.

“Doctors concluded the defendant did lack the substantial capacity to know or appreciate the consequences of his actions by reason of insanity or autism spectrum disorder,” Myco read in court from a portion of the report the prosecution’s expert prepared.

“This doesn’t happen,” Butler said outside of court. “That’s what’s so bizarre about it — usually I’m the one begging the court to say somebody has a mental defect or is not responsible.”

In addition to grand larceny, McCollum faces charges of criminal impersonation, operating a motor vehicle without a license, criminal possession of stolen property and unauthorized use of a motor vehicle.

He will have to say on Oct. 18 whether he will accept the offer or go to trial on Dec. 4.

In 2016, McCollum became the subject of a critically acclaimed documentary film, “Off the Rails,” which was directed by Adam Irving.

“I’m just a train buff — that’s all there is to it,” McCollum said in the documentary.

His 30 arrests include commandeering trains and buses, strolling onto restricted property — and even impersonating Metropolitan Transportation Authority workers while decked out in their uniform and gear.

McCollum filed a $15 million lawsuit last year in Brooklyn Federal Court under the Americans with Disabilities Act for not allegedly receiving proper mental health treatment while in jail.

Source: http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/nyc-crime/serial-bus-thief-asperger-offered-bizarre-plea-deal-article-1.3539119

 

 

 

[Gotham Bus Co.]

He is the kind of person who gives rail/bus fans and Aspergers patients a bad name.