Teen Sneaks Past Security, Climbs Atop The World Trade Center In New York
A 16-year-old teenager from New Jersey captivated by the 1 World Trade Center, the tallest building in the US, was arrested after he managed to sneak past security and climb to the top of the building. Justin Alexander Casquejo was so mesmerized by the structure, he decided to sneak out of his home and reached the World Trade Center site in the dead of the night. There, he was able to somehow go past four layers of security – which included a sleeping guard, and eventually reach the top of the building, near the spire.
Justin allegedly crawled through a hole in a fence near the World Trade Center site at around 4 am and got into an elevator with an operator who took him to the 88th floor, no questions asked – even though Justin was not carrying any identification with him. Then he took the stairs up to the 104th floor where he encountered a sleeping guard – who has since been fired.
He went further up the building to reach the antenna of the WTC, which also happens to be amongst the top terror targets in the US. Casquejo managed to spend over two hours atop his favorite building, snapped photos from the top and decided to make his way down. That was when his free run ended and was caught by a construction worker who handed him over to the police.
The teenager who lives in Weehawken, NJ, seemed nonchalant about his feat and laughed away the entire episode when reporters talked to him, saying, “Ha ha, oh yeah, that. Right. I would really love to talk to you guys because I have a lot that I want to say about it, I was told that I just can’t [talk] without permission.”
He also sent out a one word tweet that summed up his experience:
Inspired. — Justin (@JustinCasquejo) March 18, 2014
Further investigations have revealed that Casquejo is a huge World Trade Center buff and has photos of the building all over his Facebook. He is reported to have told the investigating police officers that he had little trouble going past the security at the building, raising questions over the way in which the site security is being managed. In fact, all he did was walk around the site a few times to figure out where to sneak in.
The Port Authority police are not as amused by the incident as the general public. They have arrested Justin and confiscated his cellphone and camera after obtaining a search warrant. The police have also launched an investigation to find out if Justin had managed to reach other parts of the building.
Joe Dunne, the chief security officer for the Port Authority, said, “We take security and these types of infractions very seriously and will prosecute violators. We continue to reassess our security posture at the site and are constantly working to make this site as secure as possible.”
The World Trade Center is 1776 feet tall and is the tallest building in the US.
[Images Via Facebook]
