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'Slow-walked and very sloppy': Gilbert PD had August teen assault suspect's name for months before arrest, report shows

The report details an August assault investigation that was deemed inactive by the department.

GILBERT, Ariz. — Police had the name of one suspect in a brutal beating outside of a Gilbert In-N-Out in August for months before they were arrested, according to Gilbert police records. 

So far, six suspects have been arrested in connection to the case. All arrests have happened this month, but the assault happened on Aug. 18, 2023. The case was inactivated by October 2 and reopened in December amid public pressure.

RELATED: Gilbert police arrest 2 more teens for violent attack at fast-food restaurant

“I think they could have just wrapped this up so much sooner, so much quicker, had they followed through and done the right thing at that time," said Rick Kuehner, the father of the assault victim.

Rick Kuehner has long questioned why there was a delay in justice in his son's case. A lack of arrests and accountability forced him to send his son out of the country to live with his mom. He was deeply concerned for his son's safety.

His son's brutal beating was captured on camera.

Credit: Gilbert PD

The video showed Kuehner's teenage son being jumped by a group of assailants in the In-N-Out parking lot at San Tan Village. His shoes were stolen off of him. He was left bloodied. He went home and his dad called police.

He and his son told Gilbert PD the teen had been receiving threats in the days prior to the assault. Kuehner showed them the threatening photos that had been sent through social media.

In addition, Kuehner's son gave police the name of an alleged attacker as well as the names and contact information for witnesses.

“There didn't seem to be really empathy or desire to really dig in because I gave them a lot of leads. They had a lot of strings to pull and they just didn't," Kuehner said.

That night, police interviewed the suspect the victim named. Months later, that person would be arrested, but that night, he claimed he was not involved. He did give police video of the attack.

The following day, the report states Gilbert PD sent the video to a school resource officer in hopes they could help identify the suspects.

By Oct. 2, the case was suspended due to a lack of leads of suspects.

Gilbert PD Chief Michael Soelberg was asked why at a press conference earlier this month.

"We shared that video with our officers and our detectives and our SRO specifically to try to see if we could identify them. We were unable to identify them. So as I mentioned if we can't establish probable cause, absent further information, we need to inactivate the case," Soelberg said.

'These did not appear to have been uploaded as evidence.'

Gilbert PD reopened the case in December. They interviewed new individuals and re-interviewed subjects. They posted screenshots from the video of the attack on social media. Tips started coming in.

When the officer reviewing the files looked back on the work that was previously done, it was noted in the report,  “Richard appeared to have shown screenshots of Snapchat threats that were sent to his son previously; however, these did not appear to have been uploaded as evidence.”

“When I read that, I was very disappointed because I thought that would be very pertinent information to have in the case." Kuehner said.

Additionally, the report states Kuehner and his son provided police with witness information, but that person did not appear to have been contacted by patrol. 

“It would just seem like common sense to follow up on those and get as much information as you can, because you never know, by talking to those people, you might get some more names and so forth," Kuehner said.

The social media threats Kuehner told officers about the night of the attack had also been reported to police four days prior.

In a separate police report obtained by 12News from August 14, Kuehner told police his son received a photo of a gun and a photo of a person holding a handgun with the barrel pointed at the camera.

Then, two vehicles showed up to their house.

After providing that information to police, that report concluded,  “Investigation determined there were no direct threats made or sufficient evidence to establish probable cause for an arrest.”

“Why didn't the police take care of this back in August? What happened? Why are they waiting now? So it's just very disappointing. I'm glad they're making arrests now, and they're doing the right thing. But it was very slow-walked and very sloppy, in my opinion," Kuehner said.

12News emailed Gilbert PD a list of questions about the above-mentioned police reports. So far, we have not heard back. Gilbert's police chief now holds a weekly press conference. This week's is scheduled for Thursday.

EAST VALLEY TEEN VIOLENCE

For months, 12News has been tracking a growing number of teen violence cases in the East Valley.

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