Gilbert Goons: Police speak out amid community concerns over teen violence
GILBERT, Ariz. - Gilbert Police officials are speaking out on teen violence amid ongoing and mounting community concerns over such incidents.
On Dec. 22, police with the East Valley town released a number of photos that they say are connected with an aggravated robbery incident that happened in August 18 at a parking lot in the area of Williams Field Road and Market Street.
The photos were of a low resolution, but some of them show a group of people involved in what appears to be a fight. In one photo, a person's face can clearly be seen.
"In addition to a thorough review of past cases from the last two years involving youth to determine if there is any additional information or correlation between these incidents that can assist us with our past investigations, Gilbert PD is working with neighboring jurisdictions to ensure information that may be of assistance in current or past investigations is shared," read a portion of the statement released by police.
On their teen violence investigations page, police officials said they have noticed an increase of assault incidents involving juveniles in the area of Williams Field Road and Market Street, over the past year, each of the reported incidents involved different individuals.
Police speak out on "Gilbert Goons" group
Gilbert Police investigating teen violence
Gilbert Police officials have released photos connected to an assault incident earlier in the year, as the department looks into cases that might be connected with the so-called 'Gilbert Goons' group. The photos were of a low resolution, but some of them show a group of people involved in what appears to be a fight. In one photo, a person's face can clearly be seen. FOX 10's Lindsey Ragas reports.
While police did not appear to officially link the August 18 incident mentioned above to the so-called "Gilbert Goons" group in their Dec. 22 statement, officials did say on their teen violence investigations page that they are "actively reviewing our assault cases involving youth to see if there is any additional information or correlation between these incidents that can assist us with our past investigations."
Earlier, on Dec. 14, Gilbert Police Chief Michael Soelberg spoke out about the "Gilbert Goons" group in a statement, stating that Gilbert Police officials were made aware of the group name via "recent social media references."
Police said initially, they did not have any cases where the victims or the suspects refer to the group. Since then, however, police officials said that recent updates from victims have referred to their alleged assailants as being associated with the group.
"I just hear that it's a bunch of kids running around. They come around the In N Out here. They run around and do a bunch of things they're not supposed to do, obviously. I heard about the jump. Obviously they're just hurting kids that are smaller than them," said one area resident, identified only as ‘David.’
As Gilbert Police's investigation into the case continues, people in the area are talking about it.
"It's honestly kind of crazy because we live in Gilbert, which is known to be pretty safe. I don't know why a bunch of kids are out here deciding to go crazy. You can't just think its fun to go out and fight a random dude," said David. "It's just not fair to families out here. For those kids, they just need to learn a lesson.
Meanwhile, officials with Gilbert Public Schools have issued a letter to parents, asking them to talk with their children about the importance of their safety, and being aware of popular hangouts in the community.
Meanwhile, anyone with information on the case should contact Gilbert Police.