Who are the Gilbert Goons gang members? Criminal activity prompts creation of committee amid repeated teen attacks

Recurrent teen attacks by a group called ‘Gilbert Goons’ in Arizona’s Gilbert town prompted the town council to vote to create a subcommittee on Tuesday. Several parents and community members have asked that a committee must be created to address the growing teen violence.

Residents have the assailants as a gang consisting of 20 teenagers or more. Most of these teens are from upper-middle class white families attending multiple schools on Southeast Valley. They sometimes call themselves the Gilbert Goonies and have carried out random attacks on other teenagers for over a year.

As per social media posts, police records, and court docuemtns, thee said assaults have taken place outside fast-food chains, mall parking lots, house parties, and parks. In recent times, their attacks have grown a lot more violent where they are intimidating and threatening their victims to remain silent.

Images and video footages posted across social media platforms demonstrated the Gilbert Goons hitting, kicking, and beating other teens. Sometimes they are also seen using brass knuckles.

---

Subcommittee in the making as nine teenage violence cases supposedly concerning the Gilbert Goons arise

The decision to build a subcommittee came after the Gilbert Polcie Department revealed it was dealing with nine teenage violence incidents. Four of these cases were recently reopened while the rest were reportedly anew. Katey McPherson, an East Valley resident addressed the Gilbert Town Council Tuesday and said:

“Our youth are signalign for help.”

Police chief Michael Soelberg said at the meeting:

“We are combing through every detail of our past assault cases and arrests involving youth to determine if there are any connections, correlations and what are the relationships — if any — between those involved.”

The subcommittee will have Vice Mayor Scott Anderson, and council members Jim Torgesin, Chuck Bongiovanni seve on it. They are expected to cooperate with the police and work in coordination with them to collect community input and address the surge in violent behavior among young people.

Back in December 2023, Michael Soelberg said his department did not receive any reports from any of the victims or suspects associated with the Gilbert Goons. However, on Monday, january 8, the Gilbert Police Department released a statement and acknowledged recent victims referred to the Gilbert Goons as being their assailants.

The department announced it teamed up with the Arizona Gang & Immigration Intelligence Team Enforcement Mission — a statewide task force to thoroughly investigate individuals self-proclaiming to have affiliation with the gang.

The investigation will further determien whether the Gilbert Goons can be categorized as a criminal street gang. If classified as such, the members will be eligible for being charges with class 2 felony according to state law.

The most recent arrest made since the formation of the subcommittee is of Jacob Pennington, 20. He was arrested on January 10 in connection with an attack that took place on November 18, 2023 in a desert area along N. Wagon Wheel Road.

The male victim, 16, sustained minor injuries but declined medical treatment. He could not immediately identify the assailants. The Pinal County Sheriff’s Office was investigating the incident.

Jacob Pennington was charged with aggravated assault and was booked to the Pinal County Adult Detention Center Wednesday. He claimed to be a part of the Gilbet Goons. The investigation is still underway in hopes of finding the rest of the attackers.