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Newsday's Andrew Strickler reports: New York City's most infamous transit fanatic was arrested yet again Saturday morning in the Columbus Circle station after he was spotted wearing a transit-worker-like outfit and entering a restricted area, New York City police said.
Darius McCollum, 43, who has been repeatedly arrested for impersonating subway and train personnel, was wearing a blue worker's outfit and gloves bearing a NYC Transit patch when transit cops saw him at the Times Square station.
The officers, who recognized McCollum from his frequent run-ins with police and the MTA, followed him as he got on an uptown No. 1 train and got off at Columbus Circle.
He was arrested when he pushed aside a barricade in the station and entered a restricted area shortly after 2 a.m., police said.
McCollum, of East Elmhurst, who was profiled in Harper's Magazine and inspired a stage play, became a minor cult figure in the 1990s after he was arrested more than a dozen times for impersonating train personnel, stealing MTA buses, and other crimes in and around public transit.
McCollum, who is believed to have memorized the city's subway lines as a child, also spent time in prison after he pleaded guilty to trying to steal a Long Island Rail Road train.
On Saturday, police said, McCollum was carrying a hard hat, a flashlight, a screwdriver and other tools, and "sensitive" transit documents. He was charged with criminal impersonation, criminal trespass and possession of burglar tools.
McCollum was being held Saturday in a holding cell in the Columbus Circle station.
Copyright © 2008, Newsday Inc.
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