2 men accused of setting off fireworks inside a Harvard Medical School building are arrested

BOSTON (AP) — Two men who were in the Boston area for college Halloween parties last weekend set off fireworks in a Harvard Medical School building, authorities said Tuesday in announcing their arrests.

Logan David Patterson, 18, and Dominick Frank Cardoza, 20, were arrested Tuesday morning on charges of conspiracy to damage by means of fire or an explosive. They were due in court later Tuesday.

Neither Patterson, who is from the Boston suburb of Plymouth, nor Cardoza, who is from the Cape Cod town of Bourne, had an attorney as of early Tuesday afternoon. Cardoza also didn’t immediately respond to an Instagram message seeking comment.

The explosion happened early Saturday on the fourth floor of Harvard Medical School’s Goldenson Building, which houses labs and offices associated with the school’s neurobiology department. No one was injured.

“Let me be clear: Setting off an explosive device inside a locker at an institution geared toward higher education is not some harmless college prank. It’s selfish, it’s short-sighted, and it’s a federal crime,” said Ted Docks, the FBI’s special agent in charge, who wouldn’t speculate as to the motive.

According to the charging document, witnesses said the defendants were visiting the Wentworth Institute of Technology for Halloween activities, including parties at area schools. On the day of the blast, surveillance footage captured the two walking toward Harvard’s medical school wearing face coverings. Witnesses said the pair chose the building because it looked abandoned and got into it via the roof, the charging document states.

Witnesses said the pair lit a roman candle outside of the building and placed a cherry bomb inside of a locker in the building that then exploded, according to the charging document.

An officer who responded to a fire alarm that morning encountered two people running from the building, Harvard police said.

“Anxiety levels naturally rise when the public learns that an explosion was intentionally caused. I would say those levels may rise even higher in the Boston area,” U.S. Attorney Leah B. Foley said at the news conference, noting that the investigation is ongoing but that there’s no further threat to the university.

Medical school officials said the explosion caused no structural damage and that all labs and equipment remained intact.

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This story was updated to correct the name of the Wentworth Institute of Technology, which was wrongly referred to as Wentworth College.