Man charged with clambering up inside a Zakim tower and stealing an airplane warning light - for the second time
A homeless man who figured out how to enter one of the Zakim Bridge's towers climbed to the top and stole a 60-lb. airplane warning light last month - the second one he's stolen - State Police charge.
Clifford Beckford, 34, allegedly stashed his newest light at the historic Warren Tavern in Charlestown, after leaving the first light outside the Old State House in downtown Boston, State Police say.
State Police arrested Beckford last night near a relative's home in Melrose - after an investigation in which he was initially treated as a potential terrorist probing the extent of our nation's key transportation infrastructure, until police realized he just likes stealing the lights because he can.
Beckford was charged with breaking and entering, larceny from a building, receiving stolen property, malicious destruction of property over $250, defacement of property and committing injury to a bridge. At his arraignment in Boston Municipal Court, Beckworth was ordered held without bail while he undergoes a mental health evaluation at the Solomon Carter Fuller Center, the Suffolk County District Attorney's office reports.
According to State Police:
The beacon is a large bubble-style light, with a red lens, about 18-inches in diameter at its base and approximately 3 feet tall. It weighs at least 60 lbs. The purpose of the beacons installed at the top of the Zakim towers are to allow aircraft to easily see the location of the towers. Because of the nature of the crime, troopers assigned to the Joint Terrorism Task Force became involved in the investigation. We have determined that Beckford was not attempting to commit a terrorist act, probe the bridge's security system, or cause an aircraft to hit the tower. State Police are satisfied that the act of the theft itself was Beckford's goal.
State Police say detectives were able to determine that Beckford stole the light around 9 p.m. on Feb. 3, when he allegedly:
Walked up a cantilever ramp to reach the bridge, defeated door locks to gain entry into the south tower, then climbed a ladder to the top of the inside of the tower, where he removed the beacon. Evidence further indicates that Beckford then descended the ladder while carrying the beacon, exited the tower, and placed the beacon on a snow bank next to Route 93. Beckford, who was parked nearby, then walked back to his car, drove to where he had placed the beacon, took it into his car, and drove off.
Following Beckford's arrest last night, troopers developed information that the beacon may be at the Warren Tavern in Charlestown. Troopers went there and spoke to the manager, who was very cooperative and stated that, in fact, there was an object in the tavern's cellar that fit the description. The investigation indicates that Beckford left the beacon outside the tavern at some point recently, and an employee who came across it later took it in without knowing what it was. All evidence indicates that neither the tavern nor its employees were complicit with the theft in any way.
State Police detectives also determined Beckford had stolen a similar beacon while the bridge was under construction in the early 2000s:
At the time of that theft, it is believed that beacon was still in possession of an electrical contractor and had not been become state property. That beacon was never reported stolen. The investigation indicated that that beacon was recently anonymously left - presumably the defendant - at the office of The Bostonian Society, which operates the Old State House Museum in Boston. As with Warren Tavern, The Bostonian Society and Old State House Museum did not know where the light came from and were not complicit with the defendant's actions in any way.
Innocent, etc.
Ad:
Comments
wait
you can go to the top of those towers? really? I thought they were solid concrete...
Are you selling Ginsu knives now? :)
Ginsu Web editor
If you order before midnight tonight, we'll throw in - ABSOLUTELY FREE - this complete and unabridged set of space-saver photos!!! Now how much would you pay? Wait, don't answer yet ...
OK, I took out the Ginsu thing ...
oh geez
I was just pokin fun at you.. just because that is a common line on infomercials :D
Awww
Put it back! I liked it!
The state will most
The state will most definately build a booth on side of bridge, or high up on one of the towers , with a security guard inside the booth monitoring the bridge. A major breach to our public infrastructure, Jeoperdizing the people who use that bridge. This is a major embaressment to whomever is in charge of our state's highway system or the governor!!
Yeah you can climb up it.
Yeah you can climb up it. They get inspected from time to time and that's how they do it.
Let Me Get This Straight
You can be potentially charged as a terrorist for stealing a light bulb off of a bridge in the middle of a city which is lit up all hours owing that it is a piece of a part of critical infrastructure for the transportation of the region.
If that is so, When are the Staties going to look into the MBTA Board of Directors and the General Court for their neglect of a lot more of our critical infrastructure over the past decades?
Pretty lights
he just had to have. Rehabilitate &hire Beckford as a security consultant or a mover/roofer - after lugging those things hundred of feet down the tower ladder! Computer hackers get hired as consultants without the heavy lifting, just not by the state, judging by how poor (and overpriced) much of the IT is.
Reminds me of Catch Me If You Can
Frank Abagnale got a job with the feds spotting other peoples' fake checks. There might be a place in society for this guy.
What the Heck...
This is the second one he's stolen? What's his plan?
I think I would seriously let him get away with the theft one time just to see what he was going to do with the light.
Also, this is why we can't have nice things.
Apparently his plan was...
...to leave them outside of various historic sites on the Freedom Trail??? For some reason this is very interesting to me.
Or....
....he just has a strong dislike towards The Police's "Roxanne"
He is dropping them at historic locations
Should we start a pool on the next light deposit? I've got The Boston Stone outside of the Green Dragon.
I'll pick near
the Bunker Hill Monument.
No Way
I'm going for Old North Church.
Three if by bridge...
.
The plan was to keep stealing
The plan was to keep stealing one piece of the bridge every 10 years, then when he eventually gets all of the pieces, he build his own Zakim Bridge. Probably over the Mystic.
Facebook
apparently he likes to photograph it at different landmarks and post the pics to facebook (yes, he's on facebook), along with various other whackadoodle diatribes & pictures.
This sounds like him
Melrose High School Year Book 1997 (found on Google.)
Clifford W. Beckford Jr.
58 Dell Ave.
Kip #48
I do not regret the things I did but the
things I did not do.
Climbin Radio Tower Chemical Storage
Room Museum of Science Many Many
Late Nights Arabians Ripley Log Good
Harbor- Waves Quarries NH trips Mt
Chick a Blow Torchcsugarushcs Neptune
Shaws Runspps Berwicks Rock On 96
Keep On Truckin 1997 RAM
Different middle initial... but...
This twitter page seems to have a photo of one of the lamps right on it.
nothing constructive, really, but...
"Committing injury to a bridge" is quite possibly the best phrase I've heard all day.
Don't pee on one!
Could be busted for injuring a bridge.
They should charge all the
They should charge all the dummies who drive into bridges on Storrow with it.
Are we sure
Are we sure that the "injury to a bridge" statute doesn't have to do with dental appliances?
I'm just impressed...
that he descended a ladder carrying a 60 pound beacon!
Repair man
His sentence should be to put it back where he found it. I wouldn't want to be the repair guy who is going to have to get it back up to the top of the bridge. They probably hauled it in by a crane or winch or something in the first place.
Also amazing is that he climbed down with it and absolutely NOBODY saw him and posted about it on Twitter at all. Even if he were on the job, you'd think that seeing someone hauling a beacon light down the ladder would be even the slightest bit gabbable.
Hokay...
First of all, he broke into a tower so his ascent and descent were unseen as he was inside the tower.
Second, as no pedestrians are allowed on the bridge, I think it is highly improbable that someone would be intrigued enough to stop his or her car on the bridge (which is probably not a wise thing to do anyway) and snap a photo.
And, thirdly, the guy sounds like he has some mental issues so I am going to cut him some slack here.
America Works
Can we get this man a job through the America Works program? Seems to be wasting his talents.
I can't lie.
I REALLY wouldn't mind having one of those.
seriously, what's the make
seriously, what's the make/model of that thing?
http://www.quickmeme.com/img
http://www.quickmeme.com/img/34/34bde2c7eac4b12fec8ebfad5b806f0f5c12f2f7...
Wow! No security whatsoever,
Wow! No security whatsoever, I wonder if the governor will get the blame for this.
If a crazy homeless guy can
If a crazy homeless guy can pull this off just think what a motivated terrorist could do. Seriously, WTF did billions of dollars on HLS grants go to if a guy can just stroll across a major highway bridge unnoticed and steal a large piece of equipment?
Whoops, look out
Motivated terrorists gonna steal all the red bridge lights. And the world trembled...
Those lights are there to
Those lights are there to mark where the bridge is for low-flying planes, helicopters, etc., which wouldn't necessarily see it in the event of a power outage or heavy fog.
Removing the lights is actually potentially very dangerous. Unlikely that a terrorist would do so, as the likelihood of anything actually crashing into the Zakim is pretty slim, but they are there for a genuine safety reason on any structure taller than a certain height.
A homeless guy
got into the tower and walked away with a 60 pound marker light, and managed to do so completely undetected.
Now imagine how easy it could be for a determined terrorist to do far more nefarious and damaging things to that bridge
2 thigngs
1) Wow, those are much bigger than I realized
2) Does anyone know why the charge is "receiving stolen property"? Seems to me it's just the larceny, or maybe "possession of stolen property". But to my ears, the larceny is the main crime here (maybe along with tresspass) but then you 'possess' the loot, you don't 'receive' it. Can anyone educate me on some legal background, please?
3) I'm glad (somewhat surprised) that logic prevailed and they aren't calling this terrorism. The light-bright/guerrilla marketing thing a few years ago was rediculous.
Back during the construction of the Zakim Bridge
I was told that when these beacons were first installed, they had not just one light inside, but six. Plus a mechanism to automatically change the position of the active bulb when it burned out. The reason for this was to limit the number of times a maintenance worker had to climb the towers to change the bulbs.
Now it's possible that the lamps were changed to LEDs (perhaps when the decorative lighting system was upgraded a few years back). However, if that is the case, it doesn't explain the 60 pound weight of the current beacon.
Maybe they kept the mounting of the old light ...
and just replaced the bulbs with LEDs?
Point
taken.
It's a lot easier to charge
It's a lot easier to charge/prove that someone is a recipient of stolen property (and its basically the same crime as taking it) than it is to prove they actually took it. A cop can't allege you stole something and arrest you for it simply because you were found with something you presumably knew was stolen, but the possession of said item is obviously cause to arrest you for possession of a stolen item.
Thanks BrianJDamico
Your explanation is pretty logical- thank you very much.
kudos
This sounds entirely sensible of the State Police. We often hear crazy-sounding talk about terrorism threats in the news, so it's reassuring when we hear level-headedness.
He was making a weather beacon
As long as he set it to flash red, by the standards of the old Hancock, he'd be right most of the time this winter.
Oh, look, it's going to snow again.
safety first
I just love the fact that it's buckled up.
Beacon on board!
Wouldn't want that bouncing around in the back seat if I had to make a quick brake!
it's caused me to feel things...
like an affection for and desire to take care of that gigantic bridge light.
On my list of Things I Won't Ever Say, that was up there.
Get him a job at the Hancock.
Get him a job at the Hancock.
Honestly, at one point I had the daft romantic notion that some guy had to go up a freight elevator, service stairway, and a ladder to change the Hancock weather light - like a lighthouse keeper or modern-day Paul Revere. Very disillusioned when somebody pointed out reality to me - that it's far more likely to be some unassuming switch panel in an electric closet in the basement (or even more modern - a smartphone app).
Old Hancock Light
The old Hancock warning light has been out for years. Maybe they could hire him to go up and change the bulb..
Went HS with him
He stole a banner from the old Garden back in the day.
Hmm, this looks very familiar ...
Where have I seen this before?
A new PSA campaign
That is the biggest bottle of
That is the biggest bottle of gatorade i have ever seen!
FYI
That's no light cover, that's a baby Dalek.
Hey
unlike most people, this guy is a "doer" - good for him.
Lots of people are "doers"
It's just that most of them only "do" useless shite, like this guy. But I'll grant that what he did was amusing. Still useless.
Sounds almost like some
Sounds almost like some daredevil branch of autism, if there was one.
Perfect guy to run the T....
...at least he knows his way around a transportation system...