14 DAY TRIAL // A New Jersey teenager managed to break the supposedly impenetrable security at World Trade Center and reach the spire of the famous building.
Justin Casquejo was arrested early on Sunday morning after he climbed to the top of USA's tallest building to take photos in the middle of the night.
The 16-year-old boy from Weehakwen crawled through a hole in a fence around the building, which is still under construction in New York City, at around 4 a.m. He then allegedly climbed the scaffolding surrounding the tower until he reached an elevator.
“He’s a skinny kid who got through a skinny hole,” a police source said, according to New York Post.
Joe Pentangelo, a spokesman for the Port Authority of New York & New Jersey, which owns the trade center site, said that even though he had no ID, the teen was allowed to take the elevator up to the 88th floor by a “clueless union elevator operator.”
From there, the sneaky boy climbed the stairs to the 104th floor and then to the tower's antenna, which rises 1,776 feet (541 meters) above the ground. Apparently, the guard assigned to protect the top of the nation's tallest building was sound asleep.
Casquejo spent two hours on top of the tower, reportedly taking pictures, but was finally busted by a security guard and arrested on the premises. Officials also seized his camera and cellphone after obtaining a search warrant.
He was charged with misdemeanor criminal trespass and released. He is set to appear in court on April 2.
“I walked around the construction site and figured out how to access the Freedom Tower rooftop,” the teen said, according to his arrest report.
The young daredevil's stunt raised serious questions about security at one of the world's biggest terrorist targets, which is reportedly guarded by the Port Authority Police Department, the NYPD and a private security company. However, it seems that the boy somehow managed to elude all security measures implemented by these agencies.
“We take security and these type of infractions extremely 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,” Port Authority's chief security officer said in a statement, as reported by Daily Mail.
The skyscraper is set to open later this year and will replace the Twin Towers that were destroyed on September 11, 2001.