A sticky-fingered career thief who’s been nabbed by cops nearly 150 times is back on the streets again despite a new batch of heists — because state law won’t allow him to be held on bail.
Shaquan Seth, 40, whose rap sheet includes busts for burglary, larceny and drugs, was only out of Rikers Island for six days after a five-month stint behind bars before he was allegedly at it again — and now he’s being charged with five more thefts in Queens, law enforcement sources told The Post.
On Friday, he was cut loose again because the state’s criminal justice system bans judges from setting bail on non-violent crimes like petty larceny and burglary.
Shaquan Seth has been arrested nearly 150 times, but remains free without bail thanks to lax state laws. Obtained by NY Post
“It makes no sense,” one source said. “He just did six months for the same crime, and now he gets released without bail?”
Seth, whose rap sheet dates to 2009, has a history of unhinged behavior, and bizarrely sported a Super Mario Bros. T-shirt in his latest police mugshot.
He is now facing new robbery and burglary charges for five new alleged incidents between June 17 — less than a week after his stint in jail — and Aug. 5, with the ill-gotten loot including $600 worth of Threshold candles, which he seems to have an affinity for.
A rep for the Queens District Attorney’s Office said Wednesday that the charges are not bail eligible under state law.
Shaquan Seth was arrested multiple times for shoplifting from this Target store on Jackson Avenue in Queens. Raul Rojas / Google Maps
Seth, who is last known to have been living in the Bronx, has been particularly fond of shoplifting at a Target department store on Jackson Avenue in Queens, including snatching more than $600 worth of candles during his latest heist, according to records and sources.
On Aug. 5, the sticky-fingered thief allegedly swiped the candles from the Jackson Avenue Targe and walked out without paying — then threatened to shoot a young female clerk who tried to stop him, sources said.
He didn’t display a weapon.
His latest alleged crime spree came after he was released from jail on June 11 after serving five months for a November robbery and burglary case, the records show.
Seth had been behind bars while those charges were pending, but pleaded guilty to felony grand larceny in May in exchange for a six-month sentence — and finished out his time after getting credit for the time he had already been behind bars, according to sources
NYPD cops have busted Shaquan Seth about 150 times — including for five thefts six days after he was released. Christopher Sadowski for NY Post
He’s no stranger to jail cells — sources said Seth has been behind bars 67 times in the past following arrests on charges ranging from larceny, robbery, resisting arrest and assault on a police officer.
The career criminal has also been the victim of two shootings after getting into disputes with gun-toting thugs, most recently when he was shot in the hand in the Bronx in 2016, and in 2008, when he was hit in the chest during a beef on the Lower East Side, the sources said.
The troubled thief was taken to Elmhurst Hospital for observation last week for psychiatric evaluation, but was later arraigned on the new charges and released again.
Now, he’s back on the streets despite his rap sheet and a slew of pending court cases.
Additional reporting by Joe Marino, Amanda Woods
