Latest news with #GilbertGoons
Yahoo
05-06-2025
- Yahoo
Get breaking news and top stories delivered to your email inbox with azcentral alerts
Whether it's breaking news, politics, entertainment, sports or news in your city, The Arizona Republic/azcentral covers it all. Our journalism has uncovered the scrutiny Gilbert police faced over the "Gilbert Goons" attacks, a slain 14-year-old's painful past and how Arizona renters can easily be evicted with crime-free lease addendums. We also have you covered for breaking news, such as a fatal Scottsdale plane crash, or the latest dining news, including the 100 essential places to eat in the Valley. Don't miss a beat. Sign up for news alerts and get breaking news and top stories such as these delivered right to your email inbox and phone. It's the best way to stay in the know with news across Arizona and the U.S. With azcentral's newsletter alerts, you'll get the important news of the day and a diverse selection of stories across metro Phoenix and the nation sent to your email inbox. Here's where you can sign up: You can select phone alerts for breaking news, sports, entertainment, weather, traffic, and business on the azcentral app. Quiet times for your alerts can be set within the app. Want alerts when we publish something new on a topic you're interested in? Sign up to follow specific topics of interest with the "Add Topic" button at the top of articles. Personalize your feed further in the For You front. This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Get Arizona breaking news and top stories with azcentral alerts
Yahoo
13-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Preston's Law signed by Arizona Gov. Katie Hobbs, establishing 'swarming' as a felony
The Brief Arizona Gov. Katie Hobbs signed Preston's Law on May 12. The law is named after a teen who was severely beaten at a Halloween party in October 2023 and died from his injuries days later. The law creates a new type of crime called "swarming," which will be a class 4 felony, allowing prosecutors to seek harsher punishments. PHOENIX - Preston's Law was signed by Arizona Gov. Katie Hobbs on May 12. What we know "For nearly two years, Maricopa County Attorney Rachel Mitchell worked alongside State Representative Matt Gress (R), and Preston Lord's parents, to gain passage of House Bill 2611. Also known as 'Preston's Law,' in memory of the 16-year-old who died at the hands of a group of teenagers in October 2023, the law creates a new category of assault and allows for tougher penalties against those who are convicted of these crimes," the Maricopa County Attorney's Office (MCAO) said. The law will amend assault statutes to create a new type of crime called "swarming." It's when three or more people attack one person, causing physical injuries. It will be a class 4 felony, allowing prosecutors to seek tougher penalties. MCAO says it's a probation-eligible offense. Big picture view "After Preston's death, the public learned of a group called the 'Gilbert Goons,' comprised mostly of teenagers who beat up other teens and young adults at parking lots, parks, and parties. It is common for Goons, and their affiliates, to post video of the assaults online and on social media," MCAO said. What they're saying Maricopa County Attorney Rachel Mitchell stated that the new law will ensure these types of beatings are treated with appropriate severity. "Preston's tragic death placed sharp focus on the need for the law to catch up with this awful trend. It's a new tool we can use to send a clear message those who commit these cowardly attacks that they will most definitely be held accountable," Mitchell said. "I am deeply grateful to legislators, staff, and supporters who worked very hard to change the law, and to the governor for giving Preston's Law her approval." What's next Preston's Law will take effect 90 days after the legislature concludes this year's session. What you can do Click here for more FOX 10 reports on Preston Lord's death, as well as other reports of teen violence.
Yahoo
15-04-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
If Gilbert wants to hide public records, it's going about it all wrong
Perhaps the citizen naysayers are right. Perhaps this is all nefarious and underhanded — these Gilbert Town Council members asking sharp questions about public information requests. After all, they represent a town that fell asleep on the 'Gilbert Goons,' the gang of thugs who violently preyed on mostly young men in Gilbert and surrounding communities. They're also on a council that has been at war with itself, filled with angry insults and a half-dozen ethics complaints. Now, some of those same town leaders are asking about the so-called 'frequent flyers,' the citizens or even non-citizens who keep requesting public information from the town — detailed statistics, email exchanges, text messages, police records, you name it. The requests for public information are so vast today and rising that the town now must budget $2.1 million a year simply to process them all, town Clerk Chaveli Herrera said. In 2024, Gilbert responded to some 27,328 total record requests across multiple departments — more than Mesa, a city nearly twice its size, The Arizona Republic's Maritza Dominguez reports. Some Gilbert citizens didn't like the questions asked by Council Members Chuck Bongiovanni and Jim Torgeson, suggesting there was something vaguely intimidating about them. Interestingly, Bongiovanni and Torgeson both won election promising greater transparency on a council riven with controversy. I've never interviewed these men. Don't know them. So, I went to the video of their March 25 council study session to see what all the fuss was about. What I saw at the start was a town attorney and clerk tell the council that there is almost no give in the Arizona Public Record statutes. Anybody can request information, and the town must provide it. There are exceptions, but they are few. And they had better pass muster with the courts, Town Attorney Chris Payne said. This is a healthy system in a democracy that depends on informed citizens electing town and city leaders. Opinion: Surprise! The First Amendment is against the rules in this Arizona city But the system can be abused, and in Gilbert and across the United States there are cranks and conspiracy theorists who like to put town halls through expensive exercises of mass data collection and processing. Some people make broad requests for official email exchanges over many years — all of which require sorting and eventually vetting by the town's legal arm. An example was a request last August for 3,100 emails with 730 attachments (some with multiple pages), Payne said. That took about 40 hours and $2,000 in staff time. And it was hardly unusual. In fact, that request was small compared to others that are broader and require many times more staff hours, Payne said. The town attorney's office spends upwards of $350,000 a year just to vet public information queries, he said. Hearing all this, Bongiovanni asked an essential question: 'Gilbert is a very prosperous town, and we can only afford $10,000 to help seniors and people on fixed income pay their water bill. And yet we can spend $400,000, $500,000 on wasteful FOIAs that we know are just being submitted as harassment.' Neither Bongiovanni nor Torgeson were talking about mainstream media queries. They were referring to serial abusers of public information requests. If this was an underhanded effort to turn off the spigot of information to the public, Torgeson sure didn't sound like a censorship fiend. He asked the town attorney if there was a way to just grant people access to all of the council's communications. Could they be stored in a clearinghouse with public access, so Gilbert could save millions on processing and vetting? 'I have no problem opening up every email, every phone call, every text. I want the abuse of the tax dollars to stop. Because these few people are costing us hundreds and hundreds of thousands of dollars,' Torgeson said. 'If it can be done for a reasonable number and just open everything up, I have nothing to hide, and I'm sure no one here has anything to hide. I want to stop the abuse.' Payne said, 'We'll look at that.' The information would still need to be vetted. I'm sure Torgeson knows that. But he didn't sound like a guy with secrets to keep. Nor did Bongiovanni. This looked more like a two-man DOGE session to ferret out waste, fraud and abuse. Phil Boas is an editorial columnist with The Arizona Republic. Email him at This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Gilbert councilmen want to stop waste. That's no conspiracy | Opinion
Yahoo
27-03-2025
- Yahoo
Bill to make ‘Gilbert Goons' style attacks felonies moves forward in Arizona Senate
Photo via Getty Images In response to the brutal beating death of Preston Lord at the hands of a teen gang called the 'Gilbert Goons,' Maricopa County Attorney Rachel Mitchell wants to make group assaults on a single person felonies instead of misdemeanors. Seven people — three minors and four adults — have been charged with killing Lord, who was only 16, in a Oct. 28, 2023, attack at a Halloween party in Queen Creek. Melissa Ciconte, Lord's stepmother, told the Arizona Senate Judiciary and Elections Committee that perpetrators of group beatings like these should face harsher penalties. 'This calculated act was done without remorse,' Ciconte said during Wednesday's hearing. 'He was beaten, kicked, and stomped on — not just to inflict harm, but as entertainment for those who participated. One of them even danced on top of his body after he was deceased. They took his life without a second thought, showing a complete disregard for human decency. 'This is not just a tragedy. It is an outrage, and it cannot continue. Preston's memory has been a rallying cry, not just for justice, but for prevention.' An investigation by the Arizona Republic first publicly connected Lord's slaying with a series of beatings by a group of mostly affluent teenagers in the East Valley. Lord's parents have criticized the Gilbert Police Department for having knowledge of the brutal attacks and doing nothing to stop them before they escalated and became deadly. Gilbert Police Chief Michael Soelberg claimed that many of the other attacks were not reported to police, and that investigators were not aware that the attacks were connected until after Lord was killed. During the year leading up to Lord's death, groups of teens who were part of the Goons would gang up on a single person and hit, kick and punch them while sometimes recording and bragging about the crimes on social media. Many of the attacks happened at the same locations, including the parking lots of fast food restaurants. Richard Kuehner, whose teen son was beaten in August 2023 at an In-n-Out in Gilbert, the location of several Goons attacks, told the committee that his son's attackers deserved to be charged with more than a misdemeanor for their actions. The attack left Kuehner's son with a concussion and so scared that he moved out of the country to live with his mother. He described the punishment his son's attackers received as a 'slap on the wrist,' adding that he doesn't believe it deters young people from taking part in violent crimes. 'The mental and emotional trauma my son endured has been far more profound (than physical injuries),' Kuehner said. 'Even after the attack, he continued to be threatened by the same kids and was too afraid to leave the house for fear of being ambushed again.' Kuehner said he reported the attack to his son's school and the Gilbert police, but there was scant response from either. Last year Kuehner filed a civil lawsuit against numerous young people and parents he claims are associated with the Gilbert Goons, as well as the Chandler Unified School District and Gilbert Police Department for not doing enough to stop the attacks. The proposal that Mitchell is backing, House Bill 2611, would make the assault of a single person by a group of three or more people — currently a misdemeanor — into a felony. The bill, sponsored by Phoenix Republican Matt Gress, would make more serious punishments available, and if the perpetrators are adults, possibly saddle them permanently with the label of felon. Vicki Lopez, a criminal attorney representing Arizona Attorneys for Criminal Justice, asked that legislators amend Gress's bill to ensure that it doesn't unintentionally result in felony charges for children who engage in minor schoolyard altercations. Lopez explained that, because the definition of assault includes touching someone with the intent to 'insult, injure or provoke,' children as young as 12 who, for example, hold another child's arms while a third child pokes or slaps them could be charged with a felony under Gress's proposal. Sen. John Kavanagh, R-Fountain Hills, agreed with Lopez that HB2611 might need amending to ensure it doesn't have unintended consequences, and suggested adding a caveat that the group assault must cause serious injury to be upgraded to a felony. Mitchell responded that assault causing serious physical injury is already considered a felony offense. But many of the Goons attacks leading up to Lord's death did not meet the legal definition of serious injury, she said, the reason the change was proposed. According to Arizona law, a serious physical injury 'causes reasonable risk of death, serious and permanent disfigurement, serious impairment of health or loss or protracted impairment of the function of an organ or limb.' 'What we're seeing in this trend is individuals who are engaging in using their fists, beating down a kid, and unless there is a broken bone or a serious physical injury, then it is treated as a misdemeanor,' Mitchell said. 'So, it is not really reflective of the seriousness of three individuals ganging up on one individual to commit an assault.' The committee voted 4-3, along party lines, to forward the bill to the full Senate for a vote. Democratic Sen. Analise Ortiz, of Phoenix, said that her 'heart goes out to the family and the whole community of Gilbert that was um impacted by this horrible and unnecessary death.' But Ortiz said she voted against the bill because she viewed it as overly broad. And that, she said, could lead to serious consequences for young people who make a 'dumb mistake on the schoolyard' that don't cause serious injury but land them in the juvenile detention system anyway. Ortiz added that this could forever change 'the trajectory of their lives, without any assurance that this would deter any types of assaults of this nature in the future.' In the House, Gress's bill received bipartisan support, passing by a vote of 37-21 on March 3. The majority of Republicans favored the proposal, along with 10 Democratic legislators. Five Republicans joined the rest of the Democrats in opposition. SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE
Yahoo
06-02-2025
- Yahoo
Preston Lord's murder suspects appear in court for the first time in months
The Brief The seven suspects accused in the death of 16-year-old Preston Lord appeared in court on Feb. 5. They're accused of beating Lord to death in October 2023 during a Halloween party. MARICOPA COUNTY, Ariz. - The suspects charged in the killing of 16-year-old Preston Lord appeared in court Wednesday morning for the first time in months. All seven of the suspects are pleading not guilty and are facing first degree murder charges. Some are also facing robbery charges. In court on Feb. 5, 2025, attorneys discussed the large amount of evidence and interviews they're going through. The court says the state is still narrowing down which electronic evidence will be used in the upcoming trial. Another hearing is set for May and the trial is scheduled to begin in July. The backstory Lord was found beaten in Queen Creek after attending a Halloween party on Oct. 28, 2023. He died two days later at a hospital. In February 2024, his death was officially ruled as a homicide by the medical examiner. Lord's case has raised attention to teen violence happening in the East Valley, including the group known as the "Gilbert Goons," who have been declared as an official criminal street gang.
