May 17, 2016
Source/Chester County District Attorney's Office
Caleb Tate, 22, left, is a student at Belmont University in Tennessee, and his twin brother, Daniel, is a student at Pepperdine University in California. They are charged with arson by explosion, arson by possession of explosive devices, conspiracy, theft and related charges, authorities said.
A pair of twins from Chester County is in custody for an alleged bombing spree.
Daniel and Caleb Tate, both 22, of Cochranville, set off multiple explosives in Chester and Lancaster counties in December while home from college on break, destroying several buildings, according to the Chester County District Attorney's Office.
Daniel Tate is a student at Pepperdine University in California, while Caleb Tate is a student at Belmont University in Tennessee.
During their break, the twins began constructing bombs made of metal pipes, fuel containers, propane canisters, propane torch tips and other items, prosecutors said.
They allegedly began a string of detonations at two Chester County locations, blowing up a mailbox on South Friends Meetinghouse Road in Highland Township and detonating a bomb in a wooded area near the 1800 block of Faggs Manor Road in Londonderry Township.
Prosecutors allege the Tate twins detonated an improvised explosive device in an Amish produce shed at 905 May Post Office Road in Strasburg Township, Lancaster County.
Then the Tate twins moved on to bombing buildings, prosecutors allege, destroying an Amish phone shed on Bartville Road in Colerain Township, Lancaster County, and a well pump shed on Ross Fording Road in West Fallowfield Township, Chester County, and damaging an Amish produce shed on May Post Office Road in Strasburg Township, Lancaster County.
Luckily, no one was inside any of the structures when the bombs went off, and there were no injuries, according to authorities. But the explosions could have injured or killed someone, prosecutors said.
The explosions dall occurred in December, generally in the early morning hours, and all within a 12-mile radius, prosecutors said.
Both Daniel and Caleb Tate are charged with arson by explosion, arson by possession of explosive devices, conspiracy, theft and related charges.
