Fil-Am daredevil pleads guilty in One World Trade Center climb | Global News

Fil-Am daredevil pleads guilty in One World Trade Center climb

/ 09:52 AM July 31, 2014

Trade Center Climber

In this April 2, 2014 file photo, Justin Casquejo passes through security at a New York City courthouse. Casquejo, who sneaked to the top of the 1 World Trade Center tower in March, pleaded guilty Wednesday, July 30, 2014, in an escapade that fanned concerns about security at the nation’s tallest building. AP

NEW YORK — A teenage daredevil who sneaked to the top of the 1 World Trade Center tower in New York pleaded guilty Wednesday (US time) in an escapade that increased concerns about security at the nation’s tallest building.

Filipino-American Justin Casquejo admitted breaking a city misdemeanor law against climbing tall buildings without permission. He’s expecting a sentence of 23 days of community service for his March climb.

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Together, the cases prompted a security shake-up at the World Trade Center, one of the country’s most security-conscious sites after the 2001 terror attacks.

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Casquejo’s lawyer, Pamela Griffith, declined to comment Wednesday. The teen is due to be sentenced in September.

Casquejo, a 16-year-old climbing enthusiast, slipped through a small gap in a construction fence and then used a ladder, scaffolding, elevators and stairs to scale the unfinished tower early on March 16, according to court papers. Along the way, he got by an inattentive security guard, authorities said.

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“I was walking around all night trying to figure out how to enter the site, knowing it was a no-trespassing zone,” Casquejo later told a police officer, according to court papers.

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After spending about two hours atop the symbolic 1,776-foot (541-meter) tower, Casquejo encountered a security guard as he descended.

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After Casquejo’s climb, the building’s private head of security resigned, the guard Casquejo eluded was fired and the Port Authority brought in a company that guards its airports to handle security at trade center entrances and monitor security systems there.

The Port Authority declined to comment Wednesday.

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Fil-Am teen’s World Trade Center climb draws mixed reactions 

TAGS: Daredevil, Filipino-American, guilty, Justin Casquejo, One World Trade Center

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