17 'Gilbert Goons' and parents sued over attacks; conspiracy alleged
The "Gilbert Goons" attacked and beat teenagers with near impunity for more than a year. Now a Scottsdale lawyer says he intends to make the gang members — and their parents — pay.
Richard Lyons on Thursday filed a lawsuit against 17 individuals he identified as Goons, accusing them of assaulting unsuspecting victims, recording attacks and sharing photos and videos of them on social media.
The lawsuit, filed in Maricopa County Superior Court, also names 26 parents of 13 Goons who Lyons said were underage at the time of the attacks.
He described the Goons as a gang of mostly "rich, entitled white kids who want to be gangsters." Lyons said the parents are legally responsible for their children's actions.
"The young and completely innocent victims of these assaults suffered skull fractures, facial fractures, broken and missing teeth, concussions and other serious injuries," Lyons said in a court filing.
"After many of the assaults, the Gilbert Goons continued terrorizing their victims by texting threats of further violence and even death threats ... contacting the victim's family members, driving by their homes and knocking on their doors," Lyons alleged.
The lawsuit was filed on behalf of a victim injured during an attack at a Gilbert In-N-Out Burger in August, and his father.
In addition to the 17 Goons, the lawsuit names two juveniles and an adult who participated in that attack but aren't known members of the gang, Lyons said. The parents of the two juveniles also are being sued.
Lyons told The Arizona Republic a companion claim soon would be filed for the victim of an attack at a Mesa park in May.
But Lyons is not limiting the lawsuits to individuals involved in those two attacks or to Goons who delivered blows.
He said anyone who threw a punch, prevented victims from escaping or helped the Goons in other ways, such as recording attacks and driving assailants from the scenes of bloody assaults, took part in a conspiracy.
Other gang members who took part in separate beatings also can be held liable, he said.
Timeline: Preston Lord investigation, 'Gilbert Goons' attacks stun Phoenix area
Several of the parents named in the lawsuit did not respond to The Republic's phone calls and texts asking for comment.
Lyons is not waiting for police to make arrests or the Maricopa County Attorney's Office to charge gang members. He is instead using the recordings to identify attackers and go after them in court. The videos and messages Goons posted and traded are enough, he said.
"These kids were dumb enough to document what they were doing," he said in an interview. "What other person in their right mind would film it? They'd only do it if they thought they could get away with it — and for far too long, they did."
The Goons have no expectation of privacy since they knew the crimes were recorded and shared publicly, Lyons said.
The civil conspiracy claims will hold the Goons and others accountable for beatings that police and their parents largely ignored when they occurred — even when attackers put kids in the hospital with cracked skulls and other injuries, Lyons said.
"I'm trying to help the families of victims deliver whatever justice they can," he said.
A Dec. 14 investigation by The Arizona Republic first detailed a string of vicious assaults by the Goons, which had gone unchecked since at least 2022. The Republic also outlined the gang's potential ties to the fatal beating of 16-year-old Preston Lord at a Halloween party in Queen Creek.
The Goons recorded their blitz-style attacks on teens in parks and parking garages, outside fast-food restaurants and at house parties.
Gilbert was the nexus for attacks, but others occurred in Mesa and San Tan Valley. Since The Republic's investigation was published, at least 15 adults and juveniles tied to Goon attacks have been arrested. Gilbert police are also seeking the arrest of one adult who is out of state.
Arrests so far primarily stem from seven attacks and represent only a smattering of all the individuals shown in recordings of the beatings. The Republic has obtained videos of at least a dozen assaults.
Lyons said police knew about the attacks on teens and did little to stop them, echoing parents and community activists who say the assault on Lord could have been prevented if authorities had cracked down on the Goons last year.
Lyons alleges members of the Goons are responsible for killing Lord. "The conspiracy culminated in the murder of 16-year-old Preston Lord by certain members of the Goons," the lawsuit states.
"Preston's killers should have been in juvie," Lyons said. "Why weren't they arresting and charging these kids?"
In-N-Out Burger gang attack anchors lawsuit
Thursday's lawsuit is anchored on the assault of a 16-year-old boy, who was first threatened at school, then at his house and finally beaten in a gang attack at In-N-Out in August.
A brief video of the attack obtained by The Republic shows Richard Kuehner’s son running away from a group of kids in the parking lot at Williams Field Road and San Tan Village Parkway.
The video shows attackers knocking the victim to the ground and then delivering blows and stomping on his head while he is lying in a fetal position. One attacker is seen taking Kuehner’s shoes.
Kuehner said his son needed to go to the emergency room and medical bills totaled more than $14,000.
The suit names six teenagers allegedly responsible for the attack. It maintains that one of the juvenile members of the Goons shared a class with Kuehner's son at Perry High School in Gilbert. The lawsuit says "for reasons still unknown" the Goons decided to make Kuehner's son one of their victims.
Leading up to the attack, two Goons threatened Kuehner's son with physical violence via text, including a picture of a gun and the message: "Do we understand each other?" according to the lawsuit.
The lawsuit maintains that after Kuehner notified administrators at Perry High, in the Chandler Unified School District, threats from the Goons intensified.
Three weeks after classes began, two carloads of Goons showed up at Kuehner's house. They sent texts from the outside of Kuehner's house to his son inside. Kuehner said he called 911, but the teenagers left before police arrived.
A week later, on Aug. 18, "a truck full of Gilbert Goons" stopped Kuehner's son at the In-N-Out, according to the lawsuit.
Police records obtained by The Republic show Kuehner’s son gave officers the name of a 16-year-old who threatened him and attacked him. Police interviewed the juvenile on the night of the attack, and he provided them with a video of the beating, which was shared in a group chat, records state.
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The juvenile pointed himself out in the video as “running to go watch” the fight. It was clear to police he had his arms raised, stood in a “bladed stance,” and appeared to be preparing to participate in the assault, records show.
But police reported they were “unable” to establish probable cause.
The attack video was sent to school resource officers at Perry High and elsewhere, but police said they could not establish suspects. Police labeled the case "inactive" on Oct. 2.
Days after The Republic contacted Gilbert police about the case in December, it was reactivated. Police took to social media to ask for the community’s help in identifying the attackers by posting stills from the video.
Police in January arrested six individuals tied to the attack on suspicion of aggravated robbery and aggravated assault. Three were adults and three were juveniles, including the 16-year-old who police say provided them with the video.
The Republic does not normally name juveniles accused of crimes unless they are charged as adults.
Kuehner said the threats on his son continued after the attack. His son was so terrified that Kuehner said he sent his son to live overseas. The suit maintains that he was forced to leave his friends, church, pastor and swim club.
As a result of his injuries, Kuehner's son lost out on valuable training and swim competitions, critical to obtaining scholarships and possibly qualifying for the Olympics, the lawsuit states.
Goons allegedly 'tuneup' a teenager in Mesa park
The second lawsuit was expected to target members of the Goons for an attack on a 17-year-old who was lured to a Mesa park for a "tuneup" in May, Lyons said. The parents of the juvenile attacker in that case are named in Thursday's lawsuit.
The fight was reported to police in May. But it wasn't until Jan. 4 that the boy's stepfather filed a police report about the attack.
Mesa police confirmed officers responded to a May 29 call about a fight at the park involving 30 to 40 teenagers. Officers said several vehicles were attempting to leave as they arrived and kids were scattering.
Teens told officers a party was advertised through Snapchat at the park, records state, but officers said no potential victims sought help and nobody admitted to fighting or watching a fight.
A video provided to police by the stepfather proved otherwise.
The clip shows a crowd of teenagers around a boy on the ground who is being hit repeatedly by a teen standing over him. As the beating continues, another boy steps into the frame and stomps on the victim. The clip is less than 10 seconds long.
The victim told police he went to the party at the park and, shortly after arriving, another teen confronted him over some past disagreement, according to court records.
The scene quickly became violent. The 17-year-old reported that he was picked up and slammed to the ground. The group grew larger and surrounded him and his friend, which made him believe the assault was pre-planned, according to court records.The victim described the attack as a “jumping“ that left him no way to defend himself, according to police records. He received multiple minor injuries and has scars from the incident.
Police in January arrested one adult who was also charged in the Kuehner case and a 17-year-old, who is being held without bail in juvenile detention.
3 months since Preston Lord died: Why have there been no arrests?
Same attackers appear in multiple beating videos
The cases illustrate how the Goon attacks overlap, with the same individuals appearing in multiple attacks at various locations.
The same 17-year-old arrested in the Mesa assault was involved in at least three other attacks captured on video. He is also connected to the Lord homicide investigation. He has not been charged in any of those cases.
Videos recorded by members of the Goons show him delivering beatings at the Gilbert In-N-Out, a Gilbert house party and a Gilbert parking garage.
The teen's house was among those targeted in a dramatic Nov. 6 police search in the wealthy Gilbert enclave of Whitewing as part of Lord's homicide investigation, according to interviews and records.
The Republic verified addresses where searches took place through interviews and photographs provided by neighbors. The names of boys living in the homes correspond to social media posts connected to members of the Goons.
The boy's mother has declined to comment about the attack videos or a photo shared on TikTok showing her son holding a gun. She pushed back at posts on social media naming her son as one of Lord's attackers, asking: "Would you turn your child in if he was at a party where something awful happened?"
Queen Creek police have not named any suspects or arrested anyone in Lord's killing. On Dec. 28, the department announced it was seeking to charge five juveniles and two adults, and turned over the cases to the Maricopa County Attorney's Office, where they remain under review.
The 17-year-old boy and his parents are among those named in Thursday's lawsuit against the Goons.
Lyons said the Gilbert Goons "proudly" gave themselves the moniker and were known in the southeast Valley, particularly among teenagers who were afraid of being targeted for beatings.
"They were known for a long time," Lyons said, adding police and parents didn't intervene in the beatings, drugs and other crimes.
He said Gilbert's police appeared more concerned with Gilbert's designation as the "Second Safest Big City in America" than making arrests.
"They were serving the interest of the town of Gilbert instead of the citizens of Gilbert," Lyons said.
Of the defendants named in the lawsuit, 13 so far have been arrested on suspicion of assault.
Seven are now 18 or older: Aris Arredondo, Christopher Fantastic, Gage Garrison, Deleon Haynes, Owen Hines, Jacob Pennington and Kyler Renner.
Two others, Tyler Freeman and Jack Woods, are charged as adults.
Gilbert Police Chief Michael Soelberg in January acknowledged police initially did not connect beatings that occurred in the same locations and involved the same individuals. He said police initially did not link any cases to the Goons, but victims have since referred to their attackers as Goons.
Soelberg does not use the term Gilbert Goons when talking about recent arrests related to attack videos, instead referring to them as "teen violence" cases.
"As we have shared many times, in the handful of cases that were reported to our department over the past year, none of our interviews with victims or reports ever used the term Gilbert Goons or provided information that the attacks were perpetrated by any members identifying themselves as a Gilbert Goon," he said.
"While we weren’t initially aware of the term, we were actively addressing the violent crime incidents involving teens during that time," he said.
Lawyer: Claims against Goons, parents first of many
Lyons said the lawsuits are an opening salvo. The allegations are based on conversations with victims, their parents, police reports, media accounts and video evidence, he said.
Thursday's lawsuit accuses attackers of conspiracy, assault, battery and intentional infliction of emotional distress. It accuses the parents of negligent supervision.
"The parents of the Gilbert Goons negligently turned a blind eye to the assault and battery, the drug abuse, and the other illegal behavior of the Gilbert Goons," the suit alleges.
If the parents of the Gilbert Goons had acted reasonably, the threats, intimidation and attacks "never would have occurred," according to the lawsuit.
Lyons has included links to 15 attack videos in the suit and identifies the attackers in each. Most appeared in at least two; five individuals appeared in three or more videos.
Under Arizona law, parents can be held liable for the first $10,000 in actual damages for acts perpetrated by their minor children.
Parents and guardians can be held liable for unspecified additional damages, including emotional harm, lost scholarships and lost academic and athletic opportunities, Lyons said. The attackers also can be held liable for punitive damages.
Lyons said he wanted to make sure the damages were enough to send a clear financial message — one neither the attackers nor their parents could easily pay off or write off in bankruptcy.
"I want these cases to haunt these kids for a very long time," Lyons said. "I'll garnish their prison wages."
Robert Anglen is an investigative reporter for The Republic. Reach him at robert.anglen@arizonarepublic.com or 602-444-8694. Follow him on X @robertanglen.
Reach reporter Elena Santa Cruz at elena.santacruz@gannett.com or 480-466-2265. Follow her on X at @ecsantacruz3.
This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: 17 'Gilbert Goons' and parents sued over gang attacks
