A New Jersey teen snuck past World Trade Center security Sunday morning and spent two hours climbing to the top of the tower, before he was arrested at 6 a.m.
The $40 million security system was not able to stop 16-year-old Justin Casquejo from sneaking by a snoozing guard and a not so effective elevator operator. He crawled through a 12-by-12 inch hole in the fence by the construction site before climbing the scaffolding and gaining access inside the building.
Casquejo rode the elevator to the 88th floor without an ID and then took the stairs to the 104th floor where the guard assigned to watch the top of the tower and roof, was sound asleep. The guard has since then been fired.
After spending two hours on top of the tower, snapping photos, he was caught by a construction worker while walking back downstairs.
A stunned World Trade Center worker said, “he came here and he ran hog wild.”
When Casquejo talked to police, he bragged how simple it was getting past security. “I walked around the construction site and figured out how to access the Freedom Tower rooftop,” he said, according to court papers.
The WTC tower is supposed to be one of the most heavily guarded buildings in the world, yet a teenager snuck by with ease.
Casquejo was charged with misdemeanor trespassing.
He later summed up his experience in a tweet, “Inspired.”
Inspired.
— Justin (@JustinCasquejo) March 18, 2014
