More than a dozen Illinois teens have been charged with felonies for allegedly using dating apps to lure two adult men and assault them over the summer, police said. It was reportedly part of a media trend.
The Mount Prospect Police Department said some of the 11 teens involved, all 16 and 17-year-olds, were inspired by a mysterious viral social media trend. statement on Thursday without elaborating on the specifics of the apparent trend.
One of the victims, a 41-year-old man, said he was beaten by a “group of teenagers” in a parking lot on West Northwest Highway in Mount Prospect, Illinois, on July 8 at around 9:45 p.m. I reported it to the police. .
“The victim said she used an online dating app to arrange to meet someone at the location. Upon arrival, the victim was approached by a group of male teenagers, who verbally confronted her and assaulted her. “Other teenagers in the group also damaged the victim's car,” police said.
Police did not say what dating apps the group used to arrest potential victims.
Local authorities said the youths followed the 41-year-old man as he tried to jump into a car, but managed to escape.
Police responded to a similar battery call just 10 minutes later.
The group's second victim, a 23-year-old man, told police he had planned to meet up with someone he met on a dating app just a mile away from where the first assault occurred, but the teenager He stated that he was mobbed and assaulted by a group of young people. . One of them slashed one of the car's tires, according to a police report.
The victim was able to drive away, even though one tire was broken. According to police, the man was unable to go far due to a slashed tire, so he stopped at a nearby residence and called 911.
Investigators used surveillance camera footage to track down the violent teens.
“Mount Prospect Police Detectives located surveillance camera footage of the incident at 606 W. Northwest Highway and were able to identify some of the offenders seen in the video,” police said.
“An extensive investigation was carried out and a total of 11 juveniles were identified as having been involved in one or both incidents.”
Each of the 11 teens was charged with one or two counts of aggravated assault, criminal damage to property, and mob action, depending on their involvement in the attack.
According to police, detectives also said one of the teens used “racial and other derogatory language” during one of the alleged incidents, and two charges against the teen were filed. The hate crime charge was enhanced.
Police are not releasing the names of the teens because they are all minors. They all turned themselves in last month and were taken to the Cook County Juvenile Detention Center in Chicago.
Mount Prospect police hope other teens learn from the suspect's mistakes.
Police Chief Michael Eterno said, “These incidents are a wake-up call for parents to talk with their teens about the seriousness of actively participating in these types of trends seen on social media.'' I'm calling,” he said.
The charges were approved by the Cook County State's Attorney's Office, MPPD said.
