GILBERT, Ariz. — Three Gilbert town councilmembers want a specific subcommittee created to address the teenage violence happening in the area.
Councilmembers Scott Anderson, Chuck Bongiovanni and Jim Torgeson submitted the request on Jan. 2.
The request comes in light of mounting community concern over group teen assaults that have been occurring for over a year. Many have been linked to a group known as the "Gilbert Goons." Videos show assailants singling out a victim and ganging up on them, often throwing punches and kicks. In some cases, they've used brass knuckles.
"Personally I want to look into the scope of teenage violence in Gilbert," Bongiovanni told 12News. "In order to assess or even work with colleagues and the community to improve a situation, you must first define and assess the scope of the issue. I have full faith in the police in Gilbert and Queen Creek that they are working diligently to come to a conclusion of these issues."
"I want to hear the public and their concerns. I don't want anyone to feel unheard. I also hope misinformation can be eliminated," Torgeson said.
The widespread attention on these cases comes in light of Preston Lord's horrific death. On October 28, the 16-year-old was assaulted outside of a Halloween party in Queen Creek. He later died from his injuries.
Queen Creek PD has submitted charges against seven people, both juveniles and adults, to the Maricopa County Attorney's Office for review. No arrests have been made.
Following Lord's death, Gilbert PD reopened four of its teen assault cases and said its now doing a thorough review of prior cases, incidents, and calls for service involving teens from the last two years to determine if there are any connections.
12News has made multiple requests to Gilbert PD to discuss the teen violence and the community's concerns. All requests have been denied.
Gilbert's Town Council will discuss the request for the subcommittee at Tuesday night's scheduled council meeting. It's at 6:30 p.m.
'He was bleeding all over the place': Father of teen assault victim speaks out
One of Gilbert PD's active teen assault cases involves Richard Kuehner's son.
“It’s very disturbing," Kuehner said.
Kuehner's son transferred to Perry High School earlier this year. It didn't take long for him to start receiving threats from a group of other teens.
Right away, Kuehner went to school administrators to report the threats, even asking for a meeting with the other teens' parents.
He was concerned the threats would become physical.
Kuehner said that meeting was denied.
12News asked the Chandler Unified School District what was done after Kuehner reported the threats to school administrators. A spokesperson referred 12News police and sent the following response:
"Chandler Unified works closely with law enforcement in Chandler, Gilbert, and Queen Creek to ensure the safety and welfare of our students. You are encouraged to reach out to the appropriate law enforcement agency if you have not already done so."
“I said it’s not a matter of if it happens, it’s a matter of when," Kuehner said.
Kuehner said the teens then showed up at his home when he was taking their dog out for a walk. He called Gilbert PD. When police arrived, Kuehner worked with police to comb through his son's social media to try to get to the bottom of why he was being singled out.
They could not find any evidence of prior conflict. His son was a seemingly random target.
“I never heard anything back on that, even giving them that information," Kuehner said.
Then, on August 18, their fears became reality.
Kuehner's son went to the Gilbert In-N-Out and was jumped in the parking lot, left to fend for himself as the group of suspects punched and kicked him repeatedly while he was on the ground.
He fled the area after the suspects stole his shoes.
“When I saw him, he was bleeding all over the place. He even had footprints on his shirt where they were stomping him," Kuehner said. “He needed to go the ER so I took him over to the emergency room because he did have a lot of bruises on his head because they tackled him and he hit his head on the ground.”
Kuehner reported the attack to police, but the threats continued. Kuehner was forced to make a difficult choice.
“His mother lives overseas and it was a hard decision for me but I felt it was the safest thing for him to do so I flew him out of the country and he’s overseas now," Kuehner said.
The attack was recorded and video shows what happened, however, four months later, no arrests have been made.
Last month, Kuehner learned his son's case was assigned to a detective and was being reopened. Gilbert PD then released images of the alleged suspects in the case.
He said many victims and their families are scared to speak out due to threats of retaliation so he is sharing his family's story, hoping the violence stops.
"We've got to stand up and we've got to squash this. And there's got to be consequences," Kuehner said. "I think they keep doing this because there haven't been any consequences."
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