YouTube Daredevil Avoids Jail For Scaling UWS Crane With Plea

UPPER WEST SIDE, NY — A young daredevil who films himself climbing great heights, often while trespassing on private property, and posts the videos to YouTube avoided jail time for his most recent stunt, a spokesperson for the Manhattan District Attorney's office said.

Justing Casquejo, 21, pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor charge of base jumping Monday for climbing a construction crane at the building site for the Upper West Side's Waterline Square development in March 2018, a DA spokesperson said. The daredevil will be required to complete seven days of community service and attend therapy sessions.

If the New Jersey native violates the agreement or is arrested again he will spend six months in jail, the DA spokesperson said.

Casquejo was arrested in November and charged with criminal trespassing for scaling a crane at the Waterline Square development in March 2018, according to a criminal complaint. The West 61st Street development, which has since topped out, was 17-stories-tall at the time of Casquejo's climb.

The daredevil and two other people gained entry to the construction site without permission on the morning of March 18 and then climbed to the building's top floor in order to access a construction crane, according to a criminal complaint.

"[Casquejo] is seen taking photographs of himself and two other individuals who are with him. The defendant then grabbed on to a bar at the top of the crane with one hand and hung from said bar with his feet dangling in the air," the criminal complaint reads.

A superintendent of the building site told police that the daredevils were spotted on the crane using "EarthCam" photographs, according to the criminal complaint. The crane climb was Waterline Square's only security breach, the superintendent told investigators.

In 2017, Casquejo announced plans to retire from high-rise stunts after being arrested for trespassing at a 51-story building in Murray Hill.