$6M claim: Chandler school officials, Gilbert police failed to stop 'Gilbert Goons' attack (2024)

Southeast Valley school officials are accused of disregarding an attack by the "Gilbert Goons" and failing to protect a student before and after he was beaten.

The boy's father filed a $6 million notice of claim Monday against the Chandler Unified School District, saying officials were warned his son had received death threats before being "jumped" by the gang — and made no effort to stop it.

The claim also names the Gilbert Police Department, alleging the school resource officer did not take basic steps to prevent the assault or to determine who was behind it. A notice of claim is a required step before a lawsuit against a public entity or employee in Arizona.

The vice principal and resource officer at Perry High School, which is in the Chandler district but located in Gilbert, instead "took sides with and defended" the attackers, including one whose stepmother is a principal at a district elementary school, according to the claim.

Richard Kuehner said his son sustained a severe concussion and other injuries during an August beating at the In-N-Out Burger in Gilbert. But Perry officials did not discipline students for "making death threats and then following through with a savage beating," according to the claim.

"The only 'discipline' Chandler Unified School District seemed willing to impose was moving (the attacker) to the other side of the room in English class, so (the victim) would not have to sit right next to him," the claim states.

District officials did not respond Monday to a request for comment about the claim or other attacks by the Goons. The attacks occurred off-campus and after school hours but were well-known among students.

Gilbert police declined to comment. The department cannot comment on pending litigation, said spokesperson Sgt. Lorenzo Teruya.

The allegations in Kuehner's claim highlight how attacks by the Goons were overlooked by police, school officials and parents of attackers for more than a year, even after they were provided social media evidence of threats and videos of beatings.

"Flashing a gun on social media with a threat on someone should lead to immediate consequences," Kuehner's lawyer, Richard Lyons, told The Arizona Republic. "Here, a principal's kid and his friend were flashing a gun on social media and nothing happened."

The notice of claim follows a lawsuit Lyons filed Thursday naming 17 individuals he identified as Goons and 26 of their parents. It accused gang members of conspiracy, assault, battery and intentional infliction of emotional distress for participation in 15 separate attacks. It accused parents of negligent supervision.

The lawsuit wasn't limited to the beating of Kuehner's son. Lyons said anyone who threw a punch, prevented victims from escaping or helped the Goons in other ways, such as recording attacks and driving assailants from the scenes of bloody assaults, took part in a conspiracy.

Gilbert police listed the Kuehner case as "inactive" in October. They didn't reopen it until after being contacted by The Republic in December.

ADec. 14 investigation by The Republicfirst detailed a string of vicious assaults by the Goons, who recorded their blitz-style attacks on teens in parks and parking garages, outside fast-food restaurants and at house parties. The Republic also outlined the gang's potential ties to the fatal beating of 16-year-old Preston Lord at a Halloween party in Queen Creek.

Since The Republic's investigation was published, at least 15 adults and juveniles tied to Goon attacks have been arrested by authorities in Gilbert, Mesa and Pinal County, including six in Kuehner's case.

Principal: Stepson made a 'scapegoat' after media attention

Among those arrested in Kuehner's attack was the 16-year-old stepson of Riggs Elementary School Principal Jamie Lander, who is named with her husband and stepson in the lawsuit. Like Perry High, Riggs Elementary is part of the Chandler district and is in Gilbert.

Lander did not respond to The Republic's interview requests about her stepson's arrest or the lawsuit.

Police records obtained by The Republic show she sought to intercede on her stepson's behalf after the case was reopened in December, which she claimed resulted from political pressure.

She told a detective during a Dec. 19 interview in the Perry High principal's office that her stepson was being made a "scapegoat." She said the only reason her stepson was being charged was because the media was involved, according to reports.

"Jamie then told me, 'Your superiors want you to find somebody right now,'" a detective wrote.

Kuehner alleges his son was first threatened at school, then at his house, and finally beaten at the In-N-Out. A video of the attack obtained by The Republic shows the teen being hit and stomped in the parking lot at Williams Field Road and San Tan Village Parkway.

Kuehner said two Goons, including Lander's stepson, threatened his son with physical violence via text, including one text with a picture of a gun and the message: "Do we understand each other?"

The notice of claim and the lawsuit maintain that after Kuehner notified administrators at Perry High of the threats and sought a meeting with parents of his son's tormenters, threats from the Goons intensified.

Three weeks after classes began, two carloads of Goons showed up at Kuehner's house but left before police arrived. A week later, on Aug. 18, "a truck full of Gilbert Goons" stopped Kuehner's son at the In-N-Out, the claim states.

Kuehner’s son identified Lander's stepson as one of his attackers, according to police reports. Police interviewed Lander's stepson on the night of the attack, and he provided them with a video of the beating, which was shared in a group chat, records state.

He pointed himself out in the video as “running to go watch” the fight. It was clear to police he had his arms raised, stood in a “bladed stance,” and appeared to be preparing to participate in the assault, according to court records. But police reported they were “unable” to establish probable cause.

The attack video was sent to school resource officers at Perry High and elsewhere, but police said they could not identify suspects. Police labeled the case "inactive" on Oct. 2.

The claim states only a few hours into the investigation, officers had gathered the following admissible evidence: "(1) a written death threat to the victim by one of the attackers; (2) the victim naming and identifying two of the attackers including a high school classmate; and (3) a video showing the faces of the two named attackers and several others, committing an unprovoked gang-style felony assault and battery."

But they shut the case down instead, citing an inability to make arrests, Lyons said.

Teen: Fights at In-N-Out 'all summer long non-stop'

During his interview in the principal's office, Lander's stepson blamed the fight on unidentified people of color. He said, "Two or three Black kids" and a "Mexican kid" pulled up and hit Kuehner's son.

When a detective asked him to identify others involved in the attack, Jamie Lander raised objections, the detective reported. She didn't want her stepson "put in 'harm's way' by naming names," the detective said.

"Jamie said this was a 'real concern' with what was going on right now," the detective, identified as G. Montgomery, reported.

"I told Jamie that this was a common concern, but this incident is not something that can be ignored, and if someone has information, it is important to provide it," Montgomery wrote.

Lander said police had a video of the attack, access to the school surveillance system, photos of students and Perry High's resource officer. All of these, she said, could be used to identify other students in the attack, according to the report.

Lander's husband, Theodore Lander, claimed officers were going after his son because of political pressure brought on by media scrutiny of the case; he said officers had cleared his son in the attack when it was first investigated, according to Montgomery's report.

"All this other stuff happened — which is unfortunate," Theodore Lander said, adding Kuehner was trying to leverage the attention. "Now you guys are getting pressure, and this dad is jumping on to see if he can bring this back up."

Theodore Lander also expressed concern about how it would look if other kids were arrested after police interviewed his son, saying, "Everyone at the school knew they were here at the school talking to me today and about how much publicity this has gotten," Montgomery reported.

The Republic does not normally name juveniles accused of crimes unless they are charged as adults.

The teen told Montgomery he was running to watch the fight but didn't participate in the beating. Montgomery asked why nobody tried to stop the fight or call for help.

"Because all summer long there was fights happening at In-N-Out non-stop," the teen said, according to Montogomery's report. "And cops never did anything about it, but now a kid dies, and everybody wants to do something about it."

Jamie Lander suggested kids in the attack videos were being "lumped together" with the kids who were involved in the murder, according to the report. "That's the problem," she said.

She demanded to know why Montgomery was interested in her stepson since "it was known he didn't put his hands on anyone ... or go to anyone's home," according to the report.

Jamie Lander also leveled accusations about Kuehner's son that she said might explain why he was targeted, according to the report. She said she and her colleagues in the school district were receiving calls about Kuehner's son's behavior and that Kuehner wasn't being held responsible for his son's actions, Montgomery said.

When Montgomery said he intended to refer her stepson for robbery charges, she and her husband became upset, according to the report.

Theodore Lander said if nobody other than his son was charged with robbery, he was going to be "(expletive) pissed and he said he would sue the Gilbert Police Department," according to the report.

Jamie Lander wanted to know why the school resource officer hadn't identified other students by looking at their faces in the attack video, calling it "absurd," Montgomery said.

The detective said Theodore Lander referenced another attack video and claimed he could identify the attacker. When Montgomery asked for the name, he reported, "Jamie made an audible 'mm-mm' sound and said, 'Nope. We're done.'"

Stepson accused of making threats, orchestrating another attack

Jamie Lander's stepson coordinated another attack and is being named in a companion lawsuit to the one filed against Goons and their parents, Lyons said.

The companion lawsuit targets Goonsfor a May attack on a 17-year-oldwho was lured to a Mesa park and severely beaten, Lyons said.

"I have a text from (him) confirming that he orchestrated the beat down," Lyons told The Republic.

Another text two days after the attack warned the victim he would be beaten a second time if he ever again talked to the stepson's girlfriend, Lyons said.

The text was sent from the stepson's social media account, he said.

A video of the Mesa attack shows a crowd of teenagers around the boy, who is on the ground and being hit repeatedly by a teen standing over him. As the beating continues, another boy steps into the frame and stomps on the victim. The clip is less than 10 seconds long.

The victim told police he went to the party at the park and, shortly after arriving, another teen confronted him over some past disagreement, according to court records.

The scene quickly became violent. The 17-year-old reported that he was picked up and slammed to the ground. The group grew larger and surrounded him and his friend, which made him believe the assault was pre-planned, according to court records.

The victim described the attack as a “jumping“ that left him no way to defend himself, according to police records. He received multiple minor injuries and has scars from the incident.

The fight was reported to police in May. But it wasn't until Jan. 4 that the boy's stepfather filed a police report about the attack.

About two weeks later, Mesa police arrested two individuals in the attack. One, an 18-year-old named Christopher Fantastic, also was arrested by Gilbert police in the attack on Kuehner's son. The other is a 17-year-old who is being held without bail in juvenile detention.

Lander's stepson has not been named by police as a suspect in the Mesa case.

Lawyer: Chandler school officials had a duty to protect

Lyons accuses Chandler school officials of gross negligence in the notice of claim, saying they failed to provide a safe learning environment for students.

"Decision-makers at the highest levels required the victim of death threats and a brutal assault and battery to return to the same classroom as his attackers," the notice of claim states. "This gross negligence and failure to provide a safe learning environment is the direct cause of (Kuehner and his son's) damages."

All schools have a duty to keep their students safe from known threats at school and to provide them with a safe learning environment, the claim states.

The claim specifically names Superintendent Frank Narducci, Perry Vice Principal Kevin Ames, Gilbert Police Officer Jesse Allen and Jamie Lander.

Lander lacked decision-making authority at Perry High School, according to the claim. But it noted that Kuehner's son was forced to withdraw from the school as a direct result of her stepson's conduct. He referred to Lander as an agent and employee of the district, which is liable for her conduct.

The claim questioned what was worse: "CUSD and GPD excusing threats with firearms and a gang-style beating to protect a principal? Or excusing such violent behavior by students as a matter of CUSD and GPD protocol?"

In addition to negligence, the claim accuses officials of intentional infliction of emotional distress and violations of the 14th Amendment.

It alleges that by showing "deliberate indifference" to threats, school officials interfered with Kuhner's right to have a relationship with his son.

"In the middle of his junior year of high school, in the town where he had countless friends and a solid foundation, and just as he was getting ready to apply for swimming scholarships (Kuehner's son) was forced to leave CUSD and shelter overseas," the claim states.

The teen is now living with his mother in a "small rural town in a country where few speak English," according to the claim. "He has few local friends, he can only take school online, and he has very limited swimming opportunity."

The claim states a father and son had their lives upended "because the Chandler Unified School District and Gilbert Police Department inexplicably chose to protect the attackers, instead of their completely innocent victim."

Robert Anglen is an investigative reporter for The Republic. Reach him atrobert.anglen@arizonarepublic.comor 602-444-8694. Follow him on X@robertanglen.

Reach reporter Elena Santa Cruz atelena.santacruz@gannett.comor 480-466-2265. Follow her on X at@ecsantacruz3.