Chester County Twins Set Off Homemade Bombs: DA

Twin brothers in Chester County have been arrested for setting off homemade bombs and destroying multiple buildings around the region, District Attorney Tom Hogan's office has announced.

Daniel and Caleb Tate, 22, of Cochranville, are both currently college students, the DA said. Daniel attends Pepperdine University in California and Caleb attends Belmont University in Tennessee.

"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.

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."

The pair will be charged with arson by explosion, conspiracy, theft, and other charges.

Images courtesy Chester County District Attorney's Office.