Gilbert Goons Going Down

By: Joe Pyon

A gang of white upper-class teenagers named the Goonies have been posing a threat to the town of Gilbert over the past few weeks. According to azcentral.com, “They hit teens, kick them and beat them with brass knuckles.” It is also made clear that the Goonies most recent crimes were “responsible for the Oct. 28 fatal beating of 16-year-old Preston Lord.” Although this fatal crime is heinous as it is, the crimes do not come to a closure.

The Republic has also documented about “seven attacks involving members of the Goons”; in 2022 “police arrested two juveniles in separate attacks on teenagers.” As many would think that such crimes would catch the attention of the local authorities, azcentral.com states that the “Gilbert Police Department initially did not pursue any connections between the individual attacks” along with the attacks of the Goonies. While the Gilbert Police weren’t aware of making the connection between the two concurrent events, the “Republic’s reporting on the Goons led to a change in approach.”

Azcentral also stated that this resulted in the department reopening “a shelved investigation into the beating of a student by the members of the ‘Gilbert Goons’ the day after an Arizona Republic report.” It turns out that the Gilbert police were unaware of the situation and took it too lightly resulting in the media having to take actions into their own hands. Although the wave of attacks seems like they are at an all-time high, they do not come to an end whatsoever.

According to azfamily.com, “three arrests stemming from an assault at a house party in Dec. 2022” have been linked to charges of “burglary and kidnapping” resulting in their “bonds being set at $25,000.” Furthermore, azfamily.com states of how the “Maricopa County Attorney’s Office announced that 17-year-old Allen Freeman and 18-year-old Owen Hines were indicted for an attack at house party on Nov. 22, 2022.”

It turns out that “Hines was also indicted for a separate attack where he allegedly used a car to hit someone.” Conclusively, police are currently seeking further information from journalists and citizens to place an end to these cases of brutal attacks/killings. Although it took a prolonged time for police to catch on to cases of the Goonie’s assaults, they are currently making an active effort to keep its citizens safe.