Men Charged In Connection With Daring Jump From 1 World Trade Center
NEW YORK(CBSNewYork) -- Three of the four men accused of jumping from One World Trade Center in September 2013, were in police custody on Monday, just days after a New Jersey teenager was caught sneaking up to the spire.
The men face a series of charges in connection with the stunt, but the incident has raised the bigger issue of how the men managed to sneak past security.
Men Charged In Connection With Daring Jump From 1 World Trade Center
At 3:30 p.m. Monday, Andrew Rossig, 32, James Brady, 33, and one other man walked into a police station with their lawyers to surrender after allegedly parachuting from the Freedom Tower, police alleged.
Three men made the daring jump while one man remained on the ground as a lookout.
Rossig, 33, of Slate Hill; and Brady, 32, of Kings Park, were both charged with burglary, reckless endangerment, and jumping from a structure.
Also charged with the same counts were alleged jumper Marko Markovich, 27, of Lake Ronkonkoma, and alleged lookout Kyle Hartwell, 29, of East Patchogue.
Surveillance video captured the men landing in front of the Goldman Sachs building, CBS 2's Tracee Carrasco reported.
As WCBS 880's Marla Diamond reported, NYPD Commissioner Bill Bratton said police were able to nab the alleged thrill-seekers with just a snippet of video from their GoPro Cameras.
A video of the jump has been released on YouTube.
"Somebody landing on the West Side Highway with a parachute at 4 o'clock in the morning – that's all we had to work with initially," he said.
The known daredevils squeezed through a hole in a fence and climbed 104 flights of stairs before leaping from the tower, police said.
The men were supposed to surrender on Thursday, but their lawyers told CBS 2 that police demanded that they turn themselves in by 5 p.m. on Monday.
Attorneys for the men believe that the change of dates was driven by an incident that occurred last week involving a New Jersey teenager who sneaked past a security guard, and climbed to the spire to take pictures.
The Port Authority and police department were embarrassed by the stunts which exposed a major security hole, lawyers said.
"When these guys went into the World Trade Center site they went through a hole in the fence and walked right up the building. They encountered no resistance whatsoever from any security personnel," Timothy Palmatore said.
Bratton said that the arrests send a clear message.
"These men violated the law and placed themselves, as well as others, in danger. These arrests should send a message to anyone thinking about misusing a landmark this way. They will be tracked down and they will face serious charges. Being a thrill-seeker does not give immunity from the law," Bratton said.
The men have been charged with burglary, reckless endangerment, and jumping from a structure.
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