NY man with Asperger's who loves public transportation arraigned for stealing Trailways bus

From The NY Times:

When Darius McCollum (pictured) was arrested on August 31, the circumstances were all too familiar. Once again, he stood accused of taking a bus or a subway car for a ride.

On Sept. 1, Mr. McCollum was in another familiar place: a courtroom, to answer to charges related to his 27th arrest — this one for stealing a Trailways bus from a maintenance facility in Hoboken, N.J.

Mr. McCollum, 45, was ordered held in $100,000 bail at an arraignment in Queens Criminal Court, as prosecutors mentioned his extensive criminal history in New York, New Jersey and North Carolina, and noted that he did not have any significant ties to New York.

After the arraignment, Mr. McCollum’s lawyer, Stephen Johnson, told reporters that his chief focus in the case was getting help for Mr. McCollum’s medical condition, Asperger’s syndrome.

“I think the objective here is to address his disorder,” Mr. Johnson said. “It’s the nature of the disease. He cannot help himself. He’s fixated.”

Mr. Johnson denied reports that Mr. McCollum was homeless and said he lived in Manhattan with his fiancée. He described his client as extremely intelligent and harmless, and pointed to Mr. McCollum’s peaceful surrender to the police on Tuesday as an indication that his client’s actions were not premeditated but spontaneous. “He doesn’t show consciousness of guilt,” Mr. Johnson said. “The fact that he was so calm when he was caught shows he doesn’t know what he did wrong.”

According to the police, after Mr. McCollum was arrested, he admitted that the keys were in the bus when he found it and that he “jumped in and drove away.” The defendant also told police that he had stolen another bus about 20 days earlier.

Mr. McCollum told police that his medical condition was to blame for his infatuation with trains and buses.

Mr. McCollum was first arrested at age 15 after he drove an E train to the World Trade Center in 1981. He was most recently arrested in 2008 for impersonating a subway worker and has served previous stints in prison.

He appeared calm in court and did not speak. He faces 15 years if convicted; his next court date is set for Sept. 15.