A MetroCard turned out to be a get-out-of-jail-free card for Derek Terrell. Terrell was nabbed for an armed robbery in Queens in August, and was facing up to 25 years in prison if convicted. But the case was dismissed yesterday amid new evidence — including a Metro-Card that indicated he was on a Bronx bus around the time of the crime.

I usually throw [MetroCards] away afterward," Terrell, 35, said yesterday. "But for some reason, I saved it."
The saga unfolded on Aug. 16, when a man who had been mugged the day before stopped Terrell on Sulphin Blvd., about a mile from his Jamaica home, and yelled, "You robbed me!" When a group of the man's friends approached Terrell, an ex-con, He panicked and ran away. "I was scared because I've done time before," said Terrell, who was sprung from prison a decade ago after serving 31/2 years on a drug rap. "I spent the last 10 years working my way out of that world — I've changed my life."

He was nabbed by cops. They didn't believe his claims that on the morning of the robbery, he was in the Bronx, where he picked up his paycheck and cashed it. After his arrest, the divorced father of three was fired from his job at a meat packing warehouse and jailed, unable to raise $25,000 bail. It was while behind bars he remembered the MetroCard.

Defense Attorney Chris Renfroe and private investigator Arthur Grix found the card and the canceled bank check and turned them over to the Queens district attorney's office. Authorities found the MetroCard indicated Terrell got on a Bronx bus at 10:18 a.m. the day of the robbery, which took place about 10 a.m.

Yesterday, Queens Supreme Court justice Dorothy Chin-Brandt dismissed the charges against Terrell, who spent 50 days in jail.

"I'm so grateful to be out," he said. "But at the same time, this has disturbed my life. It took a lot getting back on my feet. Now, I'm just hoping to get my job back."