In our Post-9/11 world, security has increased exponentially in places that are deemed targets, or in the case of America, pretty much everything is a target. So this story comes as a surprise give the location. A teenager snuck by security at the World Trade Center. Via KURL8:
A 16-year-old boy bypassed security in the middle of the night and climbed a ladder to the spire of 1 World Trade Center, the nation’s tallest building, where he apparently took pictures, authorities said Thursday.
The teen was arrested at 6 a.m. Sunday and charged with misdemeanor criminal trespass.
According to a criminal complaint, the teen 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 6th 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.”
Pretty clever how he managed to get up to the top of the Freedom Tower, but also, “WHAT ARE YOU DOING, KID?!” How the hell is some kid just wandering around without someone saying, “Hey, remember that thing that happened in 2001? Why is that kid wandering around unchecked?” I imagine the kid has a slingshot in his pocket and an entire pack of Big League Chew in his mouth.
He was arrested on the premises, and his camera and cellphone were seized after authorities obtained a search warrant, said Joe Pentagelo, a spokesman for the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, which owns the site.
Pentagelo said the teen got onto the construction site of the nearly completed tower through a 1-foot opening in a fence. He eluded a security guard on the 104th floor; the guard has since been fired, the spokesman said.
According to court papers, the teen was released without bail after being arraigned shortly after midnight Monday on one count of third-degree criminal trespass and one count of trespass. His lawyer didn’t immediately return a phone call Thursday seeking comment.
The criminal trespass charge is a misdemeanor punished by up to three months in jail. The simple trespass is a violation punishable by up to 15 days in jail.
The complaint said the teen was observed inside the tower beyond numerous posted signs that stated: “Do not enter. No trespassing. Violators will be prosecuted.”
He’ll probably get a slap on the wrist and be back to annoying his grumpy neighbor in no time. I’d rather have a breach of security by some kid than any other scenario that I could think of. He could have dropped his phone off the edge of the building. UGH! Then he would have to go get a new phone, get it activated, and have to deal with that whole mess. All my contacts were in there!
Via KURL8