Natalie Neysa Alund

The Tennessean

Twin brothers have been arrested and charged with multiple bombings in Pennsylvania that destroyed several buildings in two counties late last year, Pennsylvania prosecutors announced Tuesday.

Daniel and Caleb Tate, both 22, are charged with arson by explosion, arson by possession of explosive devices, conspiracy, theft and other felonies in connection to setting off improvised explosive devices in five locations across Chester and Lancaster counties, Chester County District Attorney Tom Hogan said Tuesday in West Chester, Pa.

Caleb Tate is a student at Belmont University in Nashville, Tenn., but was spending his spring semester in Los Angeles as part of the Belmont West program; his brother just graduated from Pepperdine University in Malibu, Calif. Both are private, Christian universities.

The twins live in Cochranville, Pa., a community of about 700 residents 50 miles west of Philadelphia, and were home on winter break at the time of the bombings. The brothers are accused of constructing bombs made out of material including metal pipes, fuel containers, propane canisters and propane torch tips.

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The explosions took place in a tight cluster — within 12 miles in a rural area — and prosecutors said the detonations could have injured or killed anybody present at the time they were set off.

“We live in a world where the thought of bombs exploding around us is a very real fear," Hogan wrote in a news release. "These defendants brought that fear to our region during a two-week crime spree where they detonated multiple IEDs.”

Pennsylvania State Police and the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives investigated the case, and agents interviewed the brothers in February at Pepperdine. In an affidavit, the agents say the twins admitted their involvement.

The brothers are accused of constructing the bombs sometime in early to mid December, and on Dec. 20 they blew up a mailbox in Cochranville, according to the affidavit.

Then on Dec. 22, the defendants detonated an improvised explosive device in a wooded area near Cochranville.

Prosecutors say the defendants then escalated to detonating the bombs in buildings:

• On Dec. 30, the defendants exploded a pipe bomb in an Amish phone shed in Kirkwood, Pa. An Amish phone shed or phone shanty is an enclosed building with a phone that multiple Amish families, whose religion does not permit phones in their homes, can use. The phone shed was badly damaged, prosecutors said.

• On Dec. 31 the defendants detonated a device in an Amish produce shed in Strasburg, Pa. The shed was damaged in the explosion.

• Later that day, the defendants detonated another bomb in a well pump shed in Cochranville. The building was destroyed, prosecutors said.

No people were in any of the buildings when the explosions took place and the explosions generally took place during the early morning.

Investigators eventually discovered video of the suspects shoplifting materials for the explosive devices from stores in the area. They also charged some supplies to a debit/credit card in one of the brothers' names, prosecutors said.

Daniel Tate’s fingerprint eventually was matched with electrical tape recovered at one of the explosion scenes, they said.

A preliminary hearing for both brothers is set for June 9.

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Lawyer Vincent DiFabio of Paoli, Pa., who represents Daniel Tate, told the (West Chester, Pa.) Daily Local News that his client had anticipated entering graduate school but now intends to look for a job while he resolves the case.

“They both cooperated fully with authorities,” defense attorney Robert J. Donatoni of West Chester, who represents Caleb Tate. “My client intends to continue that cooperation, and to accept responsibility.”

Follow Natalie Neysa Alund on Twitter: @nataliealund