Jamiesfeast – According to police officials and sources, a serial transit offender who, cops say, should be in the subway crimes “Hall of Fame” was arrested for the 171st time. However, they were not prosecuted.
Michael Wilson, aged 37, was caught engaging in the illegal activity of selling MetroCard swipes. Surprisingly, this arrest marked his 27th in just the past eight months. However, to the surprise of many, the Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s office decided not to prosecute him. According to sources, this decision was made “in the interest of justice.”
“If we had a hall of fame for Subway offenders, this guy would definitely be a first ballot inductee,” criticized NYPD Chief of Transit Michael Kemper in a scathing post.
However, there are certain elements within our criminal justice system that hold a contrasting viewpoint.
Bragg’s office stopped prosecuting fare evasion in 2017.
Bragg’s spokesperson emphasized the office’s commitment to ensuring the safety of both passengers and transit workers in the subways by holding those responsible accountable.
According to a spokesperson, the decrease in transit crime in the borough last year was achieved through close collaboration with law enforcement partners. The spokesperson emphasized that this collaborative effort is ongoing and remains a priority.
Wilson has been arrested multiple times for various transit crimes. These crimes include criminal tampering, fare evasion, possession of forged tokens, and unauthorized sale of a fare card.
According to sources, he has a long history of charges including bail jumping, weapons, and drug offenses dating back to 2005.
The person Kemper wrote about in his post didn’t directly mention Wilson. Instead, he talked about a “subway recidivist at the heart of the lawlessness and disorder our riders are subjected to at the turnstiles” who had been arrested more than twenty times in the last eight months.
“Almost all of them have something to do with the illegal and sometimes violent sale of Metrocard swipes.” This time, inside Midtown Manhattan’s Penn Station, he openly resisted arrest as well, Kemper wrote.
Wilson was caught for the last time just before 10 a.m. on February 2 when police saw him using a MetroCard to pay someone cash to get through a gate.
He was told to leave the subway station at West 34th Street and Seventh Avenue, but he refused. He then began flailing his arms and stiffening up to escape being arrested.
In the end, Wilson was arrested by the police. They found six MetroCards on him and bent them along their magnetic strips so that they could not be used. The man also had a MetroCard for students.
During the arrest, no police officers were hurt.
But law enforcement sources who know about the case told The Post that Wilson wasn’t being charged because it wasn’t “in the interest of justice.”
Kemper didn’t agree with the DA’s reasoning, and he used it exactly as written in his X post.
“Who is justice for?” crooks who want to commit crimes again or law-abiding New Yorkers who just want to ride the subways without being bothered or breaking the law openly?” Kemper spoke up.
From what the police say, Wilson is still being investigated in Queens after being arrested on December 7 of last year and later given a warrant. More information about that case was not available right away.