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.