The quiet streets of Gilbert, Arizona were rocked after the arrests of five individuals tied to the Gilbert Goons gang, following a string of violent incidents involving minors. Among those arrested is Jacob Pennington, 20, said to be involved in a November beating of a 16-year-old, the Pinal County Sheriff's Office announced Wednesday.
The arrests stem from two separate attacks; one in November involving Pennington and another in August that led to the arrest of Christopher Fantastic, 18, alongside three others. The group is accused of a coordinated assault outside an In-N-Out Burger in Gilbert. According to authorities, Pennington admitted his association to the gang during a post-arrest interview, reports local Fox affiliate KSAZ-TV.
Pinal County Sheriff Mark Lamb said that investigators utilized video and other evidence to identify Pennington in the November attack on a 16-year-old in a desert area near Wagon Wheel Road and Sun Dance Drive. Pennington allegedly became the main aggressor in the altercation, assaulting the victim with a belt, among other weapons, according to the probable cause statement. He claimed he was defending a female friend who he alleged was previously struck by the victim. Meanwhile, in the August incident, the victim was said to be fortunate not to suffer permanent physical injuries, though the psychological trauma may persist, Brooke Gaunt from the Maricopa County Attorney’s Office indicated in Fantastic's initial court appearance.
The "Goons" have become a looming specter in Gilbert, where fear has grown alongside the body count. The fatal assault of Preston Lord, a 16-year-old from Queen Creek High School, has been one of the more prominent cases, though the county attorney noted that the Fantastic case isn't directly related. Rachel Mitchell, speaking on the Lord case, expressed a commitment to meticulousness, given the enormity of evidence — including some 600 videos, pointing to a reality that cannot escape, nor be encapsulated neatly into hashtags and soundbites, "We have one chance to do it right and we want to go in with the strongest possible prepared position so that this can be taken care of," she told KTAR’s The Mike Broomhead Show on Friday.
As Gilbert Police Chief Michael Soelberg briefed town leaders Tuesday night; his department is juggling nine active cases of youth violence. The connections being drawn by the media and through whispers on social media between these individual instances and the Gilbert Goons are becoming harder to ignore. Whether or not these latest arrests will quell the tide of violence sweeping the community remains to be seen, but for the beleaguered citizens of Gilbert, it represents at least a modicum of hope amidst a sea of angst and uncertainty.
