NYC CRIME
NEW YORK
?Bail reform, it?s lit!? NYC transit recividist brags he can?t be stopped after his latest arrest for turnstile jumping, skipping court dates
By KERRY BURKE, ROCCO PARASCANDOLA and JOHN ANNESE
NEW YORK DAILY NEWS |
FEB 15, 2020 | 8:24 AM
Charles Barry, exiting court following his having been arraigned and released, in Manhattan Criminal Court on Friday, February 15, 2020.
He?s up to 139 arrests ? and he says he can?t be stopped.
Serial subway crook Charles Barry walked out of Manhattan Criminal Court early Saturday after his arraignment in his most recent arrest on Thursday afternoon.
He knew that except for having to spend about 36 hours in police custody, there were no immediate consequences to his alleged crimes, which include charges he snatched cash from people trying to use MetroCard machines.
?I?m famous! I take $200, $300 a day of your money, cracker! You can?t stop me!? Barry yelled to a Daily News reporter late Thursday night as police led him out of NYPD Transit District 1 headquarters in the Columbus Circle station.
?Bail reform, it?s lit!? Barry said. ?It?s the Democrats! The Democrats know me and the Republicans fear me. You can?t touch me! I can?t be stopped!?
Barry was taken from Columbus Circle to Manhattan Central Booking, where he cooled his heels for about 24 hours in a courthouse holding area.
When he was finally released after his hearing early Saturday, Barry was still enthusiastic about Albany?s decision last year to eliminate bail for nonviolent crimes.
?It?s a great thing. It?s a beautiful thing,? he said. ?They punk?ed people out for bull--t crimes.?
Barry, 56, who has served six stints in state prison, has been arrested six times since New York?s bail reform laws took effect Jan. 1.
After each arrest, he was freed without bail because the charges against him did not involve violence. Twice he was charged with stealing money unsuspecting straphangers were trying to insert in MetroCard vending machines.
Barry found himself in trouble again Thursday just hours after his face appeared on a Daily News front page that headlined the MetroCard machine heists.
Officers who?ve gotten to know Barry over the years were looking for him that day because two warrants had been issued for his arrest after he missed court dates.
One court hearing Barry skipped is related to a Jan. 19 incident in which he was given a desk appearance ticket for allegedly stealing $50 out of woman?s hand inside the subway station at W. 42nd St. and Sixth Ave. near Bryant Park. The other hearing he missed was related to a theft in December.
Officers spotted him jumping a turnstile in Penn Station and began following him, said police. They lost track of him briefly before they found and arrested him around 1:30 p.m. at the subway station at W. 50th St. and Eighth Ave.
'You can't stop me!' Charles Barry declares after cops cuff him yet again.
The arrest was the 139th in Barry?s career. His criminal record includes six felonies, 87 misdemeanors, and 21 missed court hearings, records show.
Since the bail law took effect, Barry has been freed three times on supervised release, which did not require him to post bail. He was convicted of a minor charge of bending a MetroCard in a way that would let him on the subway for free, and sentenced to time served.
Police officials said that under the state?s former bail laws, Barry would more likely have been held on bail, thereby increasing the number of days he spent in custody.
It?s not clear how many times Barry was held on bail in his 133 pre-bail-reform arrests.
The Legal Aid Society said the NYPD is using a few cases to stoke fears after six weeks that bail and other reforms are a failure. It also said that despite what police say, ?pre-trial incarceration actually erodes public safety and perpetuates recidivism.?
