MONTPELIER, Vt. (AP) – An unexploded pipe bomb was found in a portable toilet, the latest in a rash of incidents in New Hampshire and Vermont that authorities believe are the work of the same four New Hampshire residents.

Vermont State Police closed down U.S. Route 4 after the pipe bomb was discovered Tuesday in a portable toilet in Hartford.

“The device that was rendered safe was left over from the weekend,” said State Police spokesman Sgt. John Flannigan. “The persons responsible have been cooperative in the investigation and led us to the location of the device.”

The four – three juveniles and an adult – will be charged in Vermont on today or Friday, at which time the identities of three will be made public. They will be cited into court at a later date.

Police are working with the four suspects and didn’t feel the need to arrest them immediately. Police are not concerned they might flee to avoid prosecution, Flannigan said.

“We’re still working with the federal authorities to see if they’ll be charged federally,” Flannigan said.

Authorities in New Hampshire and Vermont estimate there have been up to 12 incidents so far in which bombs exploded in portable toilets and elsewhere. In one, a bomb damaged a pay phone near the Vermont Law School in South Royalton. A day later, another bomb destroyed a portable toilet behind another school.

The most recent incident came Tuesday, when an unexploded bomb was found in a portable toilet at Northeast Waste Management, in Hartford.

It had been placed in the toilet when the toilet was at Glen Road Plaza, in Lebanon, N.H., authorities said.

Flannigan said Wednesday police believe they have recovered all the explosive devices that may have been planted by the four. The motive for the incidents remains unknown.

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