Crime & Safety
NJ Teen Outsmarts WTC Security, Scales Nation's Tallest Building
Hudson County teen faces a misdemeanor charge after a late-night adventure that took him to the top of One World Trade Center.
A 16-year-old from Weehawken was arrested after besting security and sneaking up to the top of the World Trade Center early Sunday morning.
Justin Casquejo slipped through in a fence at the WTC site at approximately 4 a.m. Sunday and was then taken up to the 88th floor by a “clueless” union elevator operator, according to the New York Post.
Justin then allegedly walked up to the 104th floor, past a sleeping security guard, to the roof and then to the building’s antenna.
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The teen spent two hours on the top of America’s tallest building taking photos and then got caught by a construction worker on his way back down to earth, according to the Post.
The young man—who deftly evaded the security of Port Authority police, the NYPD and two private security firms—faces a misdemeanor trespassing charge.
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The daredevil’s escapades raise serious questions about security at a site that the Post called “the world’s biggest terror target.”
The guard that was asleep at the 104th floor was fired, according to the Post, but the elevator operator who took 16-year-old Justin to the 88th floor has been reassigned “because of his hardhat union.”
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