11 Illinois teens charged after using dating apps to allegedly lure and beat men as part of a social media trend

Nearly a dozen Illinois teenagers were slapped with felony charges after they allegedly used dating apps to lure and beat two adult men over the summer — reportedly as part of a social media trend, according to police.

Some of the 11 teens involved — all boys aged 16 and 17 — were inspired by a cryptic viral social media trend, the Mount Prospect Police Department said in a statement on Thursday without elaborating on details of the apparent trend.

One of the victims, 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 around 9:45 p.m. on July 8.

“The victim related that he had utilized an online dating app to arrange to meet a person at that location. 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,” police said.

Police did not specify what dating apps the group used to nab their would-be victims.

The teenagers allegedly tailed the 41-year-old when he tried to bolt to his car, but he managed to escape, the local department said.

Cops responded to a report of a similar battery a mere 10 minutes later.

The group’s second victim, a 23-year-old man, told police that he was supposed to meet someone he met on a dating app just a mile away from the location of the first assault when he was ganged up on and beaten by the teens. One of them even slashed one of his car tires, according to the police report.

Even with one tire indisposed, the victim was able to drive away. He couldn’t get very far with the slashed tire and stopped at a nearby residence to call 911, police said.

Investigators used surveillance footage to track down the teenage brutes.

“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.”

Each of the 11 teens was charged with one or two counts of aggravated battery, criminal damage to property and mob action, depending on their involvement in the attacks.

Detectives also said that one of the teens used “a racial and another derogatory term” during one of the alleged incidents, tacking on two hate crime charges for that teen, according to police.

None of the teens were publically named by police because they are all minors. They all turned themselves in last month and were taken to Chicago’s Cook County Juvenile Detention Center.

Mount Prospect Police hope other teens learn from the accused’s mistake.

“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.

The charges were approved by the Cook County State’s Attorney’s Office, according to the MPPD.