Daredevil teen allegedly sneaks past sleeping guard to take pictures on top of 1 World Trade Center's roof
Getty Images/Michael Loccisano
A New Jersey teenager was so enamored with 1 World Trade Center that he made it his mission to climb to the top of it — and he succeeded. The New York Post reports that 16-year-old Justin Casquejo's adventure allegedly included boring a hole into a fence early Sunday morning, convincing a hapless lift operator to take him to the 88th floor, and climbing another 16 flights of stairs before bypassing a snoring security guard to make it to the antenna.
Casquejo then spent two hours taking pictures and exploring the construction site before he was caught by a construction worker. Casquejo had few words for the Post, but he told cops he was surprised that he had little trouble getting to the top. He even mocked the security measures that were supposed to cloak the likely terror target in a "ring of steel." The teen faces a misdemeanor charge for trespassing while the sleeping guard has been fired. Read the Post's full account here.
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Jordan Valinsky is the lead writer for Speed Reads. Before joining The Week, he wrote for New York Observer's tech blog, Betabeat, and tracked the intersection between popular culture and the internet for The Daily Dot. He graduated with a degree in online journalism from Ohio University.
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