Suspect with 30 prior arrests and already paroled robbery caning New Yorker straphanger

A suspect with at least 30 prior arrests and still on probation for assault has just been arrested for robbing a Manhattan straphanger and hitting him in the head with a stick, police sources told The Post.

The 21-year-old victim was aboard a southbound No. 3 train at the 148th Street subway station just before 9:30 a.m. Saturday when suspect Darien Bailey, 39, grabbed his AirPods and ran, sources said.

The victim chased the perpetrator off the train at the train station and got into a scuffle with him there, with the attacker hitting him twice on the head with a stick before police could intervene, sources said.

Bailey was charged with second-degree assault in the incident.

The victim refused medical attention at the ward, the sources said.

Bailey has 30 prior arrests, including grand larceny, resisting arrest and assault, sources say. His arrests include a grand larceny on November 3, robbery, assault in June and a petty larceny in January.

He is on parole until February 2026 for assault, sources said.

His mental history includes eight reported incidents of emotional distress or suicidal thoughts, sources said.

Saturday’s attack was just the latest in a string of traffic crimes in the city in recent weeks, including the unprovoked attack on an MTA subway cleaner in Lower Manhattan and a 10-year-old girl and her mother on board one Bronx train.