Two Arrested in Connection with Explosion on Harvard Medical School Campus

BOSTON - Two Massachusetts men have been arrested and charged in connection with an alleged conspiracy to damage a building on Harvard Medical School's (HMS) campus using a large commercial firework.

Logan David Patterson, 18, of Plymouth, Mass.; and Dominick Frank Cardoza, 20, of Bourne, Mass., are each charged with one count of conspiracy to damage, by means of an explosive, the Goldenson Building at Harvard Medical School. The defendants were arrested this morning and will appear in federal court in Boston later today.

According to the charging documents, at approximately 2:23 a.m. on Nov. 1, 2025, surveillance cameras located at Huntington Avenue and Longwood Avenue in Boston captured two males - allegedly later identified as Patterson and Cardoza - walking toward the HMS campus wearing face coverings and dark clothing. Surveillance video captured the defendants allegedly lighting what appeared to be roman candle fireworks at approximately 2:24 a.m.

According to the charging documents, at approximately 2:33 a.m., the defendants were allegedly seen climbing over a chain-link fence into a construction area surrounding the Goldenson Building and, minutes later, climbing scaffolding beside the building to access the roof. At approximately 2:45 a.m., campus police received an alert of a fire alarm from an explosion on the fourth floor of the Goldenson Building, which houses a research laboratory within HMS's Department of Neurobiology. It is alleged that, between 2:45 and 2:50 a.m., security footage captured the defendants visiting the fifth floor of the building before exiting via a first-floor emergency exit and fleeing in opposite directions.

Investigators determined that an explosive - believed to have been a large, commercial firework - detonated within a wooden locker in the fourth-floor research laboratory. Analysis of the explosive is ongoing.

It is alleged that, at approximately 2:57 a.m., Cardoza was captured on surveillance video sitting on a bench, removing his pants and placing them in a garbage bin.

It is further alleged that, beginning at approximately 3:09 a.m., surveillance footage at the nearby campus of Wentworth Institute of Technology captured Patterson intermittently running between buildings, attempting to enter a residential campus building before being let in by a passerby and charging his phone near an attendant's desk within that building. Shortly thereafter, at approximately 3:23 a.m., Patterson could allegedly be seen talking on his cell phone.

Thereafter, at approximately 3:40 a.m., surveillance video allegedly showed Patterson exiting the building to meet up with Cardoza and a third individual. It is alleged that at 3:49 a.m., after unsuccessfully attempting to enter an adjoining residential campus building, the three are seen walking toward the Massachusetts College of Art and Design campus. There, surveillance footage allegedly captured Patterson, Cardoza and the third individual walking along Huntington Avenue. In the video, Patterson has allegedly removed his sweatshirt as well as his sweatpants and is seen stuffing his sweatpants into his shorts. Cardoza is allegedly seen still wearing a dark hooded jacket and black sneakers with only shorts or boxer shorts.

According to the charging documents, witnesses allegedly stated that Patterson and Cardoza were visiting Wentworth College for Halloween social activities.

The investigation remains ongoing.

The charge of conspiracy to damage, by means of fire or an explosive, provides for a sentence of up to five years in prison, three years of supervised release and a fine of up to $250,000. Sentences are imposed by a federal district court judge based upon the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and statutes which govern the determination of a sentence in a criminal case.

United States Attorney Leah B. Foley; Ted E. Docks, Special Agent in Charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Boston Division; and Denis Downing, Interim Chief of the Harvard University Police Department made the announcement today. Valuable assistance was provided by the Massachusetts State Police and the Boston, Bourne and Plymouth Police Departments. Assistant U.S. Attorney David M. Holcomb of the National Security Unit is prosecuting the case.

The details contained in the charging documents are allegations. The defendants are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.