The first arrests in connection with attacks on teenagers by a gang known as the “Gilbert Goons” were announced Wednesday by law enforcement officials in the southeast Valley.
The Pinal County Sheriff's Office and Gilbert Police Department have separately arrested three adults and two juveniles in the attacks first detailed in a December investigation by The Arizona Republic, and authorities are reopening multiple cases. It's arrived.
Police and prosecutors confirmed that the five people arrested were charged with involvement in the gang assault against high school students, and indicated that more arrests may be made.
Prosecutors said one of those arrested was a member of the Gilbert Goons and admitted to attacking the teens.
Both attacks were among a series of videotaped assaults by a group of wealthy teenagers known as the “Gilbert Goons” that have gone unchecked for more than a year in southeastern Valley communities. Police arrested a thug on suspicion of two counts of aggravated assault with brass knuckles in 2022, but officers were unable to link him to the larger group described by the victims.
Parents, students and community activists say Goon members were involved in the Oct. 28 assault that killed 16-year-old Preston Lord at a Halloween party in Queen Creek.
Pinal County Sheriff Mark Lamb said on social media Wednesday that the sheriff's office is investigating Gilbert resident Jacob Lamb for the Nov. 19 gang assault of a 16-year-old Castile High School student near Santan Mountain Regional Park. He said Pennington, 20, was arrested. An area known as Wagon Wheel.
“So this morning, PCSO arrested a suspect in the aggravated assault of a teenager here in the county,” Lamb said in a video statement. “This is an ongoing investigation so I can't give you too many answers. Several more people may be arrested for this crime.”
In December, the Republic released video of the attack, which occurred two weeks after Lord was beaten. It was recorded on a cell phone and the footage was shared privately among a small group of high school students.
The video, which lasts just over a minute, shows the group forming a loose circle around the victim, with at least one person using a mobile phone to illuminate the painting. The attackers beat the boy as he tried to retreat, causing him to fall. When the victim started running, the attackers chased him and hit him with their feet and fists, causing him to fall to the ground.
Lamb said the boy suffered minor injuries in the attack and refused medical assistance. He told deputies who responded to a report of an altercation that the boy could not immediately identify his attacker.
The sheriff's office said the detectives who worked on the case are part of a Gilbert Police Department-led “information sharing group” on the attack and are cooperating in overlapping investigations.
During Pennington's first court appearance Wednesday, Pinal County prosecutors said Pennington “admitted to being involved in a violent group that assaults and injures minor children in the Valley.” Stated.
As explained by the judge during his first court appearance, part of Pennington's release conditions prohibits him from contacting anyone known to be a member or associate of the Gilbert Goons. His bond was set at $5,000.
Pennington could not be reached for comment Wednesday. The suspect has been identified in at least one of his videotaped attacks.
His mother, Alisha Tidwell, told The Republic in a December phone interview that she was upset that her son was identified in private social media posts related to Lord's death. She denied his involvement and said he was out of state at the time of the party where Lord was beaten.
But Tidwell declined to discuss the violent video that could potentially identify her son.
“The truth will come out,” she said. “We are not guilty. We are not guilty.”
Four arrested in Gilbert parking lot attack
Gilbert Police on Wednesday confirmed the arrest of Christopher Fantastic, the suspect in the Aug. 18 beating of a teenager at the Gilbert In-N-Out Burger. The 18-year-old boy is charged with assault and robbery.
Hours later, police announced three more people had been arrested, according to police documents obtained by The Republic. Alice Arendondo, 18, and two juveniles were initially wanted and released Tuesday night. They are facing the same charges as Fantastic.
The boys have been referred to Maricopa County Juvenile Court, police said. The case is ongoing, and officials said they continue to work to identify others involved in the attack.
The incident, which involved the beating of Richard Kuehner's then-16-year-old son, was first reported by The Republic in December. The incident is one of several attacks involving members of the Gilbert Goons that Gilbert police initially shelved or were unable to link to gang violence.
At Fantastic's first court appearance Wednesday, prosecutors with the Maricopa County Attorney's Office said the attack was planned as revenge for the victim who reported threats she had made to school officials. According to prosecutors, there were other accomplices in the case.
Prosecutors said the attack was one of several in Gilbert carried out by a group that included Fantastic and several other adults and juveniles. The term “Gilbert Goons” was never used.
The judge said prosecutors needed more evidence linking Fantastic to a group of violent youths to justify the $100,000 bail requested by the state. She ordered Fantastic to post a $25,000 bond.
Although the assault video reviewed by The Republic shows an overwhelming number of white teenagers punching other students, “Fantastic is Black” is black.
The Republic is not releasing the boy's name because he is a minor, even if he has been convicted of assault or other crimes. No one has been charged or identified by authorities as a suspect in Lord's murder.
Kuehner said her son's shoes were stolen during the assault and that the assailants “kicked and stomped” him. Kuehner said his son came home from the In-N-Out bleeding and visibly shaken. Kuehner took him to the emergency room and was charged about $14,000.
His son was facing threats from several children weeks after enrolling at Perry High School in Gilbert. A group of boys went to his house, apparently intending to assault his son. Kuehner, who was walking his dog, intervened and threatened the group after his son alerted him to the situation.
Kuehner said a report was filed with Gilbert police, but the threats against her son continued. It got so bad that he decided to withdraw his son from school and send him to live abroad with his mother. He said it had changed their entire lives, while the perpetrators continued to operate with impunity.
Help requested:Gilbert Police ask the public to help identify assailants in August 18th In-N-Out assault
“That's what frustrates me,” Kuehner said. “My son has suffered and had to change his young life because of these kids. And they will carry on as if nothing happened and will probably do it again.”
Kuehner's case had been listed as unsolved for several months, but Gilbert police reopened it following The Republic's investigation.
Most of the goon attacks occurred in Gilbert, including at least four at the In-N-Out at Santan Village Parkway and East Williams Field Road, according to records and interviews. It is. The attacks were strikingly similar, involving similar victims and many of the same perpetrators, who posted photos and videos of the beatings on social media.
The father wonders and asks:If Gilbert police had acted sooner, would Preston Lord still be alive?
Gilbert Police Chief Michael Solberg said officers could not link the attack to the attack because the victims did not specifically mention “Gilbert Goon,” adding that the department did not link Goon to “some kind of criminal activity.” He said he did not have a police report linking him to the alleged incident.
Solberg said Tuesday that the department has nine active investigations related to teen violence. Investigations in four of those cases have been reopened. Others have not been previously reported.
Gilbert City Council on Tuesday created a subcommittee to investigate teen violence. Mayor Bridget Petersen has remained mostly silent about the attack, but said the issue keeps her up at night.
“This issue broke my heart,” she said.
Robert Anlen is an investigative reporter at The Republic.please contact him robert.anglen@arizonarepublic.com or 602-444-8694. Follow him on X @robertanglen.
Elena Santa Cruz is a criminal justice reporter for The Republic.please contact her elena.santacruz@gannett.com or 480-466-2265. Follow her on X @ecsantacruz3.
