Teen Who Fell Down Shaft At WWII Battery Could Face Disorderly Conduct Charges

The National Park Service might ask the Marin County District Attorney's Office to file charges against a 16-year-old boy who allegedly broke into a World War II bunker in the Marin Headlands on Sunday and fell 35 feet down a ventilation shaft.

The teen suffered a broken arm and other injuries, Golden Gate National Recreation Area spokesman Howard Levitt said.

"This was not a garden variety teenage prank. He could have died," Levitt said. The teen was with four friends who tried to get inside the bunker at the top of Conzelman Road around 10:30 a.m. Levitt said the youths cut through metal bars with a hacksaw to get to the ventilation shaft.

Three of the youths left when the boy fell down the shaft, but one friend remained and called 911, Levitt said. The Marin County District Attorney's Office will decide if charges will be filed against the injured boy and the others that could include trespassing, creating a nuisance and damaging resources.

The Southern Marin Fire Prevention District responders cut through metal plates to get to where the teen landed, Levitt said.

The legal way to see the inside of one of the bunkers used to defend the Golden Gate and San Francisco Bay harbors during the war is to visit the restored Battery Townsley that is open to the public on weekends, Levitt said.

Battery Townsley had 16-inch caliber guns that were capable of shooting a 2,100-pound, armor piercing projectile 15 miles out to sea. It became operational in 1940.

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