A 16-year-old New Jersey boy described as a thrill-seeker bypassed an inattentive security guard in the middle of the night and climbed a ladder to the spire of 1 World Trade Center, where he apparently took pictures, authorities said Thursday, according to Reuters.
Justin Casquejo was arrested at 6 a.m. Sunday at the nation's tallest building and was charged with misdemeanor criminal trespass, police said, Reuters reported. The tower is scheduled to open this year.
According to Reuters, the criminal complaint said Casquejo was quoted as telling police: "I walked around the construction site and figured out how to access the Freedom Tower rooftop. I found a way up through the scaffolding, climbed onto the sixth floor, and took the elevator up to the 88th floor. I then took the staircase up to 104th (floor). I went to the rooftop and climbed the ladder all the way to the antenna."
He was arrested, and his camera and cellphone were seized after authorities obtained a search warrant, said Joe Pentangelo, a spokesman for the police department of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, who owns the trade center site, Reuters reported.
Casquejo was released without bail after being arraigned Monday on one count of third-degree criminal trespass and one count of trespass, according to Reuters. Casquejo's next court date was scheduled for April 2.
The episode raised questions about how such a breach could have happened at one of the most security-conscious sites in the world. New York Mayor Bill de Blasio called it "shocking and troubling," Reuters reported.
Casquejo got onto the construction site of the nearly completed tower through a 1-foot opening in a fence and eluded an inattentive security guard on the 104th floor, according to Reuters.
The guard, who worked for a contractor, not the Port Authority, has been fired, a spokesman said, Reuters reported.
The complaint said Casquejo was observed inside the tower beyond numerous posted signs that stated: "Do not enter. No trespassing. Violators will be prosecuted," according to Reuters. The investigation into the security breach was continuing.
"We take security and these types of infractions very seriously and will prosecute violators," Joe Dunne, chief security officer for the Port Authority, said in a statement, Reuters reported. "We continue to reassess our security posture at the site and are constantly working to make this site as secure as possible."
