GILBERT, Ariz. — Police in Gilbert have been called to the town's In-N-Out hundreds of times in the past four years and around 30 percent of the total calls involved teens.
Gilbert PD released the calls for service data after 12News submitted a public records request for the information. The request came in the wake of multiple teen assaults that occurred in the parking lot of In-N-Out located in San Tan Village.
Gilbert PD provided 12News with the raw data as well as data the department sorted and categorized. 12News used the raw data.
After filtering out duplicate entries, 12News found Gilbert PD responded to the In-N-Out approximately 256 times since January of 2020. In at least 79 cases, the calls involved teens, totaling about 30 percent of Gilbert PD's calls to the premise.
Additionally, Gilbert PD had at least 80 proactive patrol watches in the area of In-N-Out.
So far, In-N-Out has not responded to 12News' request for comment.
Call notes detail some of the assaults, disturbances at In-N-Out
The data shows eight reports of teen assaults or fights and 20 juvenile disturbance calls. Here are some of the call details:
On Feb. 11, 2022, a group of 30 to 40 high school kids had an airsoft gun and were shooting it. Police stated the shooter was gone on arrival and the others were warned not to use airsoft guns in public.
On May 26, 2022, 75 to 100 kids were gathered in the parking lot being "unruly" and throwing things. Police wrote they were all gone upon their arrival.
On July 29, 2022, roughly 60 juveniles were outside filming people and blocking walkways. They "dispersed" once police arrived.
On Sept. 9, 2022, a report came in of 10 kids versus one in a fight in the parking lot. Police wrote they were all teenagers and one juvenile appeared to be injured. Police stated they were gone upon their arrival.
On Nov. 26, 2022, police received a call reporting about 40 kids in the parking lot fighting. One juvenile had a bloody nose. They were gone upon their arrival.
On Dec. 2, 2022, a report came in of about 20 kids banging on the restaurant's glass trying to fight people inside. Brass knuckles were possibly used. Two people were injured. One person had a bloody nose and a second had a lacerated forehead. Police stated the suspects and victims were gone when they arrived and those who remained claimed to not be involved with the fight.
On Dec. 3, 2022, there was a report of a group of ten teens circling around one juvenile. Another group of teens punched a juvenile sitting inside In-N-Out at a booth. Police wrote everyone left the area, noting the victim wanted to press charges but left prior to police arriving.
On Dec. 4, 2022, the notes state a dozen juveniles were in the parking lot and a male brandished a gun. Police then wrote an adult said there were no fights and the gun wasn't used to threaten anyone.
On Dec. 30, 2022, Stephanie Jarnagan's son, Connor, was punched in the back of the head by a suspect wearing brass knuckles. Police wrote about 20 people were present. Two teens were arrested and one was sentenced to a juvenile detention center.
On Feb. 10, 2023, police were called for at least 50 juveniles getting rowdy where one person had a holstered handgun and was wearing a gas mask. According to the call notes provided, police said a 22-year-old male was legally carrying the gun and there were no issues with the juveniles.
On June 2, 2023, four to five juvenile males were in the parking lot. One was apparently verbally abusing someone and others were throwing rocks at cars. Police wrote they were gone when police arrived.
On June 19, 2023, a 17-year-old juvenile threw a cup of soda at a driver and punched a passenger side mirror, causing it to break. That juvenile was arrest for assault and criminal damage.
On Aug. 18, 2023, police say Richard Kuehner's son was assaulted by a group of teens who stole his shoes off of his body after beating and kicking him on the ground. Gilbert PD inactivated the case in early October due to a "lack of investigative leads" and reopened the case in December. They've since arrested four suspects in connection to the case.
On Sept. 16, 2023, 30 juveniles were lighting straws on fire in the parking lot.
There were multiple incidents reporting large groups of juveniles driving recklessly, setting off fireworks, and consuming alcohol or drugs.
Gilbert PD chief discusses In-N-Out calls for service
During a press conference on Jan. 18, Gilbert PD Chief Michael Soelberg discussed the data prior to its release.
“We've done an analysis of all of our calls for four years that in and out,” Soelberg said.
Gilbert PD stated they have upped patrols at In-N-Out in response to an increase of assaults involving juveniles in the area over the past year.
"There were eight calls in four years of a fight and out of those eight cases, only three times was a report made. Let me clarify. In those three times, we were able to get there, identify suspects and all the other times they were gone when we arrived," Soelberg said.
Gilbert PD also addresses In-N-Out incidents on their webpage dedicated to "Teen Violence."
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