One of the BASE jumpers busted for parachuting from the Freedom Tower last fall is an ironworker who helped build the tower — and he may have used his insight to carry out the daring leap, sources said Monday.
Cops believe that James Brady, 32 — who was photographed installing a final steel beam that was signed by President Obama — used his site access to stash the parachutes in the days before his Sept. 30 leap, a law enforcement source said.
“This is an inside person who apparently went rogue for his own self-glorification,” the source said.
Brady and fellow daredevils Andrew Rossig and Marko Markovich turned themselves in to cops on Monday — just over a week after New Jersey teen Justin Casquejo was busted for sneaking up to the 1,776-foot-tall building’s spire.
They surrendered along with their alleged lookout, Kyle Hartwell. They were all charged with burglary, reckless endangerment and jumping from a structure.
“Being a thrill-seeker does not give immunity from the law,” said Police Commissioner Bill Bratton.
A breathtaking, first-person video of the stunt taken with a helmet cam was released on YouTube Monday night. It shows one of the daredevils plummeting down the side of the 104-story tower. After a few seconds of free-fall, he opens his parachute and floats to the West Side Highway.
Rossig, 33, called his plunge off the nation’s tallest building “exhilarating.”
Rossig admitted he sneaked onto Ground Zero through a hole in a fence that was covered by a tarp, adding that it took them “no effort whatsoever” to breach security.
“Of course, it’s supposed to be the most secure building in the US,” Rossig said.
“God forbid it was somebody else getting in there with intentions of harm to New Yorkers.”
All four were arraigned at Manhattan Criminal Court Monday night and released on $3,500 bail.
BASE stands for Building, Antenna, Span and Earth, referring to the fixed objects from which thrill-seeking aficionados hurl themselves.
Additional reporting by Josh Sauland Reuven Fenton