Chester County Twins, Bombmakers Sentenced To Prison

Twin brothers in Chester County have been sentenced to prison after setting off homemade bombs and destroying multiple buildings around the region.

Daniel and Caleb Tate, 23, of Cochranville, both currently college students, pleaded to counts of arson and misdemeanor retail theft, according to court documents. They will spend the next six to 23 months in prison, and are forbidden to have contact with one another for five years, documents state.

Daniel attends Pepperdine University in California and Caleb attends Belmont University in Tennessee, the Chester County District Attorney's Office said.

"Improvised explosive devices are not harmless firecrackers," said Sam Rabadi, a Special Agent in Charge with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms. "They are dangerous, destructive, and can be very deadly."

The pair were home on winter break in December when they made the bombs, using metal pipes, fuel containers, propane cannisters, propane torch tips, and other items, the DA said.

They then launched on an explosive spree around Chester and Lancaster counties.

They blew up a mailbox on December 20 on 200 S. Friends Meetinghouse Road in Highland Township, the DA said.

Then on December 22, authorities noted they detonated a bomb in a wooded area in Londonberry.

According to the Delaware County Times, both brothers have apologized for the incidents.

By December 30, the twins had graduated to buildings, destroying an Amish phone shed in Colerain Township, the DA said.

A day later, they blew up an Amish produce shed in Strasburg Township and a well pump shed in West Fallowfield, according to the DA.

During the course of the investigation, detectives said they found surveillance footage of the suspects shoplifting and purchasing the material for the bombs from several local stores.

Eventually, Daniel Tate's fingerprints were matched to electrical tape discovered at the scene of one of the incidents, the DA said.

"We live in a world where the thought of bombs exploding around us is a very real fear," said Hogan. "These defendants brought that fear to our region during a two week crime spree."

Images courtesy Chester County District Attorney's Office.