Voting Station

Keron Thomas

Please vote to return to collections.

Outlaw

The Resume

    (circa 1976-July 22, 2013)
    At age 16, impersonated a New York City Subway motorman and operated the A train for three hours (May 8, 1993)
    As an adult, owned a trucking company
    Died of heart failure at age 37 after several years of battling chronic heart disease

Why he might be annoying:

    He wore a transit worker's uniform so often that even before his joyride some neighbors thought he worked for the NYCTA (New York City Transit Authority).
    He befriended subway motorman Regoberto Sabio to learn how to operate the trains -- and to find out his employee number so he could pose as Sabio.
    A few stops from completing the route, he took a curve too fast, triggering the emergency brakes.
    He fled while being taken to NYCTA headquarters for post-accident drug and alcohol tests.
    He was easily tracked down because he had given his own phone number when he had called in as Sabio, asking for additional shifts.
    He was charged with attempted murder after stabbing a fellow 18-year-old in an argument over a dice game (1994).
    His only punishment for the stabbing was an extension of the probation he had received for commandeering the A train.

Why he might not be annoying:

    He spent months studying the operating manuals for subway trains.
    The dispatcher violated NYCTA procedures by not asking him for ID.
    Prior to the accident, he made 85 station stops on time.
    He emerged as something of a folk hero after his joyride, which, combined with his youth, resulted in his receiving a sentence of three years of probation.
    The NYCTA overhauled its security procedures after the incident.
    Two decades later, he told the New York Daily News, 'Looking back it wasn't worth it. It's funny now, but would I do it again? No.'

Credit: C. Fishel


Featured in the following Annoying Collections:

Year In Review:

    In 2023, Out of 4 Votes: 100% Annoying
    In 2022, Out of 1 Votes: 100% Annoying
    In 2021, Out of 10 Votes: 100% Annoying
    In 2020, Out of 2 Votes: 50.0% Annoying
    In 2019, Out of 20 Votes: 40.0% Annoying
    In 2018, Out of 15 Votes: 40.0% Annoying
    In 2017, Out of 8 Votes: 37.50% Annoying
    In 2016, Out of 3 Votes: 100% Annoying
    In 2015, Out of 17 Votes: 52.94% Annoying
    In 2014, Out of 26 Votes: 53.85% Annoying
    In 2013, Out of 104 Votes: 60.58% Annoying