By DOJO News
NEW YORK, USA — Darius McCollum’s lifelong love for trains made him famous — and eventually cost him his freedom.
From the age of nine, McCollum, who has autism (Asperger’s syndrome), found comfort in the New York City subway system. Transit workers quickly noticed the quiet boy who knew every train schedule by heart and even how to operate the controls. Some employees — instead of stopping him — reportedly let him drive routes while they took breaks.
That innocent obsession spiraled into a lifetime of arrests.
A Love for Trains Turned Tragic
At 15 years old, McCollum was arrested for the first time after operating a subway train for an MTA worker who had asked him to cover a shift.
He drove the train perfectly, stopping at every station — but police were called when passengers realized a child was driving.
That first arrest branded him for life. With a criminal record, McCollum could never officially work for the MTA, the only job he ever wanted. But his love for transit never faded.
Over the decades, he was arrested more than 30 times for taking over trains, buses, and even a Greyhound bus during a snowstorm, claiming he did it because “they were short-staffed.”
“It Was My Passion, My Hobby”
In a 2018 court testimony covered by The New York Post, McCollum admitted to operating trains and buses over 5,000 times, often in full uniform and using fake IDs.
He told the court, “It was my hobby and my passion.”
Despite never injuring anyone or damaging property, prosecutors argued he posed a risk to the public.
He was eventually sent to a psychiatric facility — a maximum-security asylum — where he remains indefinitely confined.
TikTok Revival and Public Outcry
Recently, TikToker Xevi (4.4 million followers) reignited interest in McCollum’s case, calling his imprisonment a “gross injustice.” Xevi shared McCollum’s life story in a viral video that’s led to a growing petition on Change.org demanding his release.
The petition argues that McCollum is “not dangerously mentally ill, just misunderstood”, noting that psychiatrists have recommended he be moved to a lower-security facility.
Advocates are now urging New York Attorney General Letitia James to review his case and consider his decades-long pattern not as criminal, but as a symptom of autism-driven fixation and societal failure.
A System That Punishes Passion
McCollum’s story is more than just a viral curiosity — it’s a look at how the justice system often fails neurodivergent people. His fascination with trains may have been extreme, but it was never malicious.
For now, the “Transit Bandit” remains locked away — a man who only ever wanted to drive trains, trapped far from the tracks he loved.
🔗 Support the Petition: Free Darius McCollum on Change.org
