2 Massachusetts men arrested in Harvard Medical School explosion
Two Massachusetts men accused of setting off an explosion at Harvard Medical School last weekend appeared in court and have been ordered to stay away from all Harvard buildings.
Logan David Patterson, 18, of Plymouth, and 20-year-old Dominick Frank Cardoza of Bourne, were arrested Tuesday. Both had an initial appearance in federal court in Boston later in the afternoon. They are each charged with one count of conspiracy to damage by means of an explosive.
In addition to being ordered to stay away from all Harvard buildings, the men were ordered by a judge now to speak to each other.
Cardoza's defense attorney, Stefan Rozembersky, told reporters that his client has no criminal record. He argued that the case is only being taken up in federal court because Harvard accepts federal funding.
"This is a simple case of property damage. It's not even charged as trespassing," Rozembersky said, "Now that Harvard got their federal funding back, gives them jurisdiction to charges this matter over here."
U.S. Attorney for Massachusetts Leah Foley announced the charges at a news conference. She said the men put a commercial grade firework in a locker on the fourth floor of the Goldenson Building on Longwood Ave. in Boston early Saturday morning. Foley described the firework as a Roman candle.
No one was hurt. Two people were seen running from the building just before 3 a.m.
Later Saturday night, Harvard police released photos of two masked suspects who they were hoping to identify. According to prosecutors, news coverage of the event prompted people who knew the men to come forward with information.
Prosecutors said Patterson and Cardoza were both visiting Wentworth Institute of Technology for Halloween parties.
The Goldenson Building includes various neuroscience-related facilities, including labs focused on brain research.
According to court documents, Patterson and Cardoza were seen on surveillance video climbing over a chain-link fence and entering a construction area near the building in the minutes leading up to the explosion. The men then climbed scaffolding to get onto the roof, investigators said.
Patterson and Cardoza went to the fifth floor after the blast, according to prosecutors, then left the facility through an emergency exit on the first floor.
Prosecutors said that at 2:57 a.m., a surveillance camera near Autumn Street and Longwood Ave. showed Cardoza sitting on a bench removing pajama pants and putting them in a garbage bin.
Patterson was allegedly seen on cameras at the Wentworth campus starting at 3:09 a.m. According to prosecutors, video showed Patterson go into a dormitory, where he charged his phone near an attendant's desk, and then left about 30 minutes later to meet up with Cardoza and a third person.
Ted Docks, special agent in charge for FBI Boston, said the men bragged about what they had done to their friends.
"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 shortsighted, and it's a federal crime," Docks told reporters.
The building was open for classes Monday. There were increased patrols on the medical school campus as a precaution. The Goldenson Building is near Boston Children's Hospital and Brigham and Women's Hospital on Longwood Avenue.
If convicted, Patterson and Cardoza face up to five years in prison.