Eleven Illinois teenagers were charged with felony crimes after two men using dating apps were allegedly lured and beaten during the summer, according to police.
Some of the teens, males 17 and 16, took inspiration for the alleged crimes from a viral social media trend, the Mount Prospect Police Department said in a statement Thursday. Police did not elaborate on what the social media trend entailed.
Around 9:45 p.m. on July 8, a 41-year-old man reported to police that he'd been beaten by "a group of teenagers" in a parking lot on West Northwest Highway in Mount Prospect, Illinois.
"The victim related that he had utilized an online dating app to arrange to meet a person at that location," police said. "After arriving, the victim related that he was approached by a group of teenage males, who confronted him verbally and battered him. Teenagers in the group also damaged the victim’s vehicle."
The 41-year-old was followed by the teenagers when he tried to flee in his car, but was able to get away from them, police said.
About 10 minutes later, police responded to a report of a battery. A 23-year-old man told police he arranged to meet someone through a dating app about a mile away from the location of the first incident and was instead approached by teen males who beat him, with one slashing tires on his car.
Police did not provide the name of the dating app and did not say if it was one or more apps used to lure the men.
The 23-year-old man was able to get in his car and drive away but had to stop after realizing some of his tires were slashed. He asked the residents of a nearby home to call 911, police said.
"The Mount Prospect Police Detectives were able to locate video surveillance footage that captured the incident at 606 West Northwest Highway and were able to identify some of the offenders in the video," police said. "An extensive investigation was conducted where 11 total juveniles were identified as taking part in one or both incidents."
The teens were charged with one or two counts each of aggravated battery, criminal damage to property and mob action. Detectives also said one used "a racial and another derogatory term" during one of the alleged incidents, resulting in two hate crime charges for that teen, according to police.
Police did not mention which slurs the teenager allegedly used. None of the teens were identified because they are minors, police confirmed.
The Mount Prospect Police Department said the Cook County State's Attorney's Office approved the charges for the teens, who all turned themselves in last month and were taken to Chicago's Cook County Juvenile Detention Center.
The Cook County State’s Attorney’s Office did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The police department is advising parents to speak to their children about partaking in social media trends.
"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," Police Chief Michael Eterno said.
