A career criminal with more than 200 arrests to his name — and a history of attacking the press — is back in the headlines after allegedly swiping nearly two dozen beers from a Manhattan Duane Reade and trying to assault a photographer covering his arrest.

Laron Mack, 53, was arraigned Wednesday on charges of petty larceny and criminal possession of stolen property after police say he tried to walk out of the Duane Reade on Broadway in Lower Manhattan with 18 cans of Modelo beer tucked under his arm. He was released without bail — again — due to New York’s 2019 criminal justice reform law, which bars judges from setting bail on most nonviolent theft charges.

It’s not Mack’s first run-in with this particular store. Sources say it’s at least the sixth time since April that he’s hit the same Duane Reade — often for the same haul: Modelo beer, sandwiches, and snacks.

“This guy’s not stealing food to survive,” one law enforcement source told The New York Post. “He’s looting the shelves like it’s a shopping spree. He’s made this store his personal bar.”

Court records show Mack has at least three open larceny cases in Manhattan — one from a theft at the same store just a day before Monday’s incident. His recent alleged loot list reads like a Duane Reade inventory sheet: four 12-packs, 11 eight-packs, and two tallboys of Modelo on June 9; five cases and two 24-packs on May 7; and a mix of sandwiches, yogurt, and — once again — Modelo on April 18.

And while Modelo seems to be his drink of choice, Mack’s criminal tastes aren’t limited to beer. He’s also accused of swiping Charmin toilet paper from another Duane Reade on Amsterdam Avenue and has been charged with thefts from Walgreens as well.

Mack made headlines in 2022 when he was caught on camera lunging at New York Post photographer Steven Hirsch and smashing his equipment — after a separate shoplifting arrest for stealing Bud Light, oatmeal, and breakfast sausage. This week, during his most recent bust, he once again tried to go after Hirsch, this time attempting to kick the veteran photojournalist outside the courthouse.

Despite a rap sheet stretching back decades and public confessions — “I steal for a living,” he told police after his 2022 arrest — the courts remain powerless to detain him.

“This is exactly what’s wrong with the system,” one police official said. “You’ve got a guy with hundreds of arrests, brazenly looting stores over and over again, and we keep letting him walk. What message does that send?”

(YWN World Headquarters – NYC)