11 teenagers accused of luring men into ambush using Mount Prospect dating app

Eleven teenagers are accused of beating up two men using a dating app to lure them into an ambush in suburban Mount Prospect.

Ten 17-year-old boys and a 16-year-old face felony charges of aggravated assault, mob action and criminal damage to property, according to Mount Prospect Police.

The teenagers – who were following a social media trend – were charged for allegedly attacking two men just before 10pm on July 8, police said.

In the first attack, a 41-year-old man arrived at 606 W. Northwest Hwy. when the group of boys ambushed and beat him in the parking lot, police said. The teenagers damaged his vehicle before he could get in and drive away.

Minutes later, a 23-year-old man had arranged to meet someone in the 900 block of West Lincoln Street when he was allegedly shot and beaten by the teenagers. The man got into his vehicle and drove off, but had to pull over in the 300 block of See-Gwun Avenue when he realized his tires had been slashed.

Detectives were able to identify some of the teenagers with video footage from the attack at 606 W. Northwest Hwy. One of the teenagers was also charged with two counts of a hate crime for allegedly shouting racial and derogatory terms during the attack, police said.

“We ask that parents take these incidents as an opportunity to talk to their teenage children about the seriousness of actively participating in these types of trends that they see on social media,” Mount Prospect Police Chief Michael Eterno said in a a communiqué.