Police say three men hoping to find discarded valuables in New York City’s sewer system have been arrested.
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“I know damn sure I wouldn’t be crawling through the sewers of New York, but these three evidently were up to something down there”.
Marquis Evans, 21, who works part-time for the Department of Environmental Protection, popped the manhole for pals Damien Nieves, 35, and David Hannibal, 45, on East 35th Street near Avenue H in Flatbush at around 7:30 p.m. Wednesday, cops said. He wasn’t wearing any DEP-issued clothing, a law-enforcement official said.
Citing a secretive “police source”, the New York Daily News reported in the wee hours that Evans admitted to cops that he and his friends had descended into the sewer to “look for buried treasure and stuff”.
The two buddies never surfaced and the man told authorities he believed they were still down in the system.
Firefighters searched the tunnels and climbed down the manholes in surrounding blocks, the sources said. “It was a little cat and mouse game down there from what I understand”, Chief Boyce said.
The men were all charged with criminal trespassing. Evans was suspended and faces additional charges of criminal facilitation and reckless endangerment.
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“Entering a sewer without proper authorization and training is illegal, incredibly irresponsible and risky”, the DEP said in a statement. He was awaiting arraignment in Brooklyn Criminal Court on Thursday and couldn’t be reached for comment. “But what happened here last night is what we ask people to do – if you see something, say something”, he said.
