Three University students are under investigation for allegedly planting a mailbox bomb on Bruce Ave. in Charlottesville early Sunday, May 5.
Fourth-year Commerce student Christian Toraldo, third-year Engineering student Jamison Hodges and third-year Architecture student Gregory Van Wie all are charged with manufacturing of a bomb, a class five felony.
If convicted, each student faces one to 10 years in prison, according to Charlottesville Police Detective Howard Lagomarsino.
"A lot of [the sentence] depends on the judge," Lagomarsino said.
All three students were released from jail on $3500 bail.
The students were allowed to complete their exams but were suspended from the University while they await administrative processes, The Washington Post reported.
"That is not a matter of public records," Dean of Students Penny Rue said when asked of the students' standing with the University. "Pretty much everything we do is on a case by case basis."
The mailbox in question, at 1701 Bruce Ave., belongs to University Mathematics Prof. Thann Ward.
At this time, police have not determined any relationship between the students and the professor to suggest that the bombing was targeted.
The police were notified of the bombing after Ward's neighbor, David Murray, saw the explosion and dialed 911.
According to Murray, his border collie, "Bandit," began to howl after the car the students were driving stopped near a stop sign across the street from Ward's house.
"I watched them for a minute," Murray said. "I saw them mixing something up," which Murray said he first thought was a drink.
After one of the students threw a piece of trash into Murray's yard, which he later identified to be an empty toilet bowl cleaner bottle, he recorded the vehicle's license plate number.
Murray said the students poured the substance into a plastic bottle and put it in the Ward's mailbox, at which point they waited 20 or 25 seconds for the bomb to detonate.
"The whole thing only took four or five minutes," he said.
The students were not acting at all cautiously, Murray added.
There were no injuries in the bombing. Unlike the rash of mailbox bombings in the Midwest during early May, this bomb was not meant to detonate when the mailbox was opened.
"They were just out to have some fun," Murray said. "They weren't concerned about being caught."
The students were pulled over shortly after Murray called the police.
All three of the accused students are members of Pi Kappa Alpha Fraternity.
Aaron Laushway, assistant dean of students for fraternity and sorority life, said the fraternity affiliation of the students should not be held responsible for their actions.
"Does fraternity affiliation mean that you're going to bomb mailboxes?" Laushway said. "I don't think so."
Pi Kappa Alpha Fraternity has assured Laushway that "the students are on indefinite suspension" and that "the brotherhood recognizes the severity of this action," he said.
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