CHICAGO, IL - Authorities with the Mount Prospect Police Department (MPPD) said that 11 teenagers have been charged with a slew of felonies after a series of incidents in which men were lured to a suburban location via a dating app and then beaten once there.
According to NBC Chicago, MPPD said that two separate incidents occurred on July 8th, with two men reporting that they were beaten by a group of teenagers in the northwest Chicago suburb. The first incident happened during the evening in the parking lot of a business at 606 West Northwest Highway. After the incident, around 9:45 p.m., a 41-year-old man walked into MPPD and reported that he had been "battered earlier in the evening by a group of teenagers."
The man told officers he had arranged to meet someone at the location using a dating app, but when he arrived, he was approached by the group "who confronted him verbally and battered him." Police said that teens in the group also allegedly damaged the man's vehicle before he managed to drive away, with the group following him in their own vehicles.
The man eventually managed to get away before reporting the incident to the police. Minutes after the first man arrived at the police station, officers were called to the 400 block of See Gwun Avenue for a report of a battery.
Upon arriving on scene, a 23-year-old man told police he was beaten by a group of teenage males, who also damaged his vehicle. The man told the officers that he had arranged to meet someone in the 900 block of West Lincoln Street using a dating app, but when he arrived, the group was waiting for him. Police said that during the attack, the teenagers allegedly slashed the man's tires.
The man jumped back in his car and was able to drive away before realizing that his tires had been slashed. He approached a nearby home and asked them to call 911. He was transported from the home to a local hospital with non-life-threatening injuries. After both of those incidents were reported, authorities launched an extensive investigation.
Using video surveillance footage of the first attack, they were able to identify some of the individuals who had been involved. During the investigation, a total of 11 juveniles were identified as taking part in either one or both incidents. In one of the incidents, one of the teens shouted racial and derogatory terms, leading to hate crime charges.
All of the teens turned themselves in to police in November and were taken to the Cook County Juvenile Detention Center in Chicago. When questioned, some of the teens said that they got the idea for the attacks from a social media trend they saw online. The incidents mirror similar ones recently reported in Australia and another allegedly involving Salisbury University students.
In a statement, Police Chief Michael Eterno said, "We are asking parents to take these incidents as an opportunity to talk with their teenage children about the seriousness of actively participating in these types of trends they see on social media."
Ten 17-year-olds and one 16-year-old from Mount Prospect and Arlington Heights have each been charged with felony aggravated battery, criminal damage to property, and mob action. Some also face charges of aggravated battery with great bodily harm and one faces two felony counts of a hate crime.
According to NBC Chicago, MPPD said that two separate incidents occurred on July 8th, with two men reporting that they were beaten by a group of teenagers in the northwest Chicago suburb. The first incident happened during the evening in the parking lot of a business at 606 West Northwest Highway. After the incident, around 9:45 p.m., a 41-year-old man walked into MPPD and reported that he had been "battered earlier in the evening by a group of teenagers."
The man told officers he had arranged to meet someone at the location using a dating app, but when he arrived, he was approached by the group "who confronted him verbally and battered him." Police said that teens in the group also allegedly damaged the man's vehicle before he managed to drive away, with the group following him in their own vehicles.
The man eventually managed to get away before reporting the incident to the police. Minutes after the first man arrived at the police station, officers were called to the 400 block of See Gwun Avenue for a report of a battery.
Upon arriving on scene, a 23-year-old man told police he was beaten by a group of teenage males, who also damaged his vehicle. The man told the officers that he had arranged to meet someone in the 900 block of West Lincoln Street using a dating app, but when he arrived, the group was waiting for him. Police said that during the attack, the teenagers allegedly slashed the man's tires.
The man jumped back in his car and was able to drive away before realizing that his tires had been slashed. He approached a nearby home and asked them to call 911. He was transported from the home to a local hospital with non-life-threatening injuries. After both of those incidents were reported, authorities launched an extensive investigation.
Using video surveillance footage of the first attack, they were able to identify some of the individuals who had been involved. During the investigation, a total of 11 juveniles were identified as taking part in either one or both incidents. In one of the incidents, one of the teens shouted racial and derogatory terms, leading to hate crime charges.
All of the teens turned themselves in to police in November and were taken to the Cook County Juvenile Detention Center in Chicago. When questioned, some of the teens said that they got the idea for the attacks from a social media trend they saw online. The incidents mirror similar ones recently reported in Australia and another allegedly involving Salisbury University students.
In a statement, Police Chief Michael Eterno said, "We are asking parents to take these incidents as an opportunity to talk with their teenage children about the seriousness of actively participating in these types of trends they see on social media."
Ten 17-year-olds and one 16-year-old from Mount Prospect and Arlington Heights have each been charged with felony aggravated battery, criminal damage to property, and mob action. Some also face charges of aggravated battery with great bodily harm and one faces two felony counts of a hate crime.
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