Does this make anybody nervous?

Web of intrigue surrounds man's arrest after photos posted of abandoned sites

By ELIZABETH MOORE
STAR-LEDGER STAFF
Date: Thursday, 01/29/2004

It was a Web site filled with dark images of abandoned homes, factories and buildings throughout New Jersey.

The site displays photographs showing buildings, walls and cars with the date and time the pictures were taken and detailed descriptions of the locations.

But police say the designer of the now-defunct site, abandonedandbeyond.com, was also breaking the law.

Fairfield police arrested 25-year-old Robert Pless of Wayne on Tuesday and charged him with burglary and criminal trespassing after the owners of a vacant factory in Fairfield discovered someone had broken into their building and posted pictures of its interior on the Internet.

Police said a building on New Dutch Lane, owned by Vibra Screw Inc. of Totowa, has been closed for several years and is surrounded by a fence with a "Private Property" sign. The owners contacted Fairfield police in December when they discovered someone had forced their way into the vacant building. Police said they believe the break-in may have occurred in September.

The owners were concerned about vandalism and somebody getting hurt inside the building, police said. Although the factory is closed, it is used for storage.

After the building's owners told police about the interior photographs, the investigation focused on the Web site and its creator, whom police identified as Pless.

Pless, who was arrested on his way to work at a food company, was charged with burglary and criminal trespassing and released on his own recognizance, police said.

Fairfield police believe that Pless was accompanied by friends on many of the break-ins and that the break-ins were done at various sites in New Jersey. Police said several municipalities in Essex and Passaic counties have gotten involved in the investigation.

Police were unable to offer a motive for the break-ins, since it did not appear that items were stolen from the sites.

Attempts to reach Pless were unsuccessful. A telephone number listed for him in Wayne had been disconnected.

Wow...that's all I can say. Thanks for posting this though....it's a real eye-opener!

Look at the date of the article. Since then, sooooo many sites like that one, this one, VacantNJ and AbandonedNY that You really have to post some bad shit for them to come after ya.

MisterPat wrote: Look at the date of the article. Since then, sooooo many sites like that one, this one, VacantNJ and AbandonedNY that You really have to post some bad shit for them to come after ya.

Plus I know the location... It was Fairfield Water Works... I photographed that location in 2004 and it was posted on my pals Tom's website AbandonedNJ dotCom.. He was contacted be the owner and asked to take them down.. That is the main reason I try never list the real name of a loaction.

8ReDRuM wrote:
Plus I know the location... It was Fairfield Water Works... I photographed that location in 2004 and it was posted on my pals Tom's website AbandonedNJ dotCom.. He was contacted be the owner and asked to take them down.. That is the main reason I try never list the real name of a loaction.

yeah i know where it is too. i always just thought it was part of curtiss-wright that they didn't finish tearing down. i have pics of it on my phone. this got me a little nervous because i have broken into a few places that might not have been 100% abandoned haha its just something to worry about