Authorities in Illinois have announced that 11 teenagers are being charged in connection with attacks allegedly inspired by a popular “to catch a predator” social media trend.
Teens use dating app to lure unsuspecting victim into ambush
According to law enforcement, the group used dating apps to attract their victims and then assaulted them, resulting in felony charges.
The Mount Prospect Police Department disclosed that these teens were involved in two separate attacks earlier this year.
One incident involved a 41-year-old man who told officers he was ambushed in the parking lot of a business on July 8 around 9:45 p.m.
He explained that he had made arrangements through a dating app to meet someone at that location.
Instead, a group of teen boys confronted him, reportedly shouting verbal threats before physically attacking him.
The teenagers also caused damage to his vehicle, reportedly following the victim in their own cars as he attempted to flee.
Just minutes later, about a mile from the initial attack, another man—aged 23—contacted the police to report a similar incident.
He stated that he had also been lured to a meeting spot through a dating app, only to face a violent assault from the same group of teenagers.
The younger victim claimed that his attackers vandalized his car, including slashing its tires.
He later sought shelter at a nearby home and was transported to a local hospital by the Mount Prospect Fire Department to treat non-life-threatening injuries.
The police have refrained from identifying the app used by the suspects to allegedly lure their victims.
However, detectives utilized surveillance footage from the surrounding locations to track down potential suspects in both cases.
Suspects in “To Catch a Predator” assault were all minors
Through this investigation, authorities determined that 11 juveniles were involved in one or both of the attacks.
Last month, all 11 suspects surrendered themselves and were taken to the Cook County Juvenile Detention Center in Chicago.
The police confirmed that none of the suspects’ names would be released as they are minors. The group included 10 boys aged 17 and one who was 16.
Investigators revealed that the idea for the attacks stemmed from a viral “To Catch a Predator”challenge circulating online through TikTok.
Collectively, the teenagers are facing 53 felony charges, ranging from aggravated battery causing serious injury to property damage and mob-related activity.
One of the teens is also being charged with two felony hate crime counts.
Police claim this individual used “a racial and another derogatory term” during one of the assaults. However, officials have not disclosed the specific racial slur involved.
The Cook County State’s Attorney’s Office approved all charges against the minors.
Addressing the situation, Mount Prospect Police Chief Mike Eterno made a public appeal to parents.
“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,” Enterno stated.
College students lure innocent man in “To Catch A Predator” ambush
The incident in Mount Prospect bears similarities to another case that occurred in Worcester, Massachusetts at Assumption University.
There, a group of students reportedly used a dating app to lure a man to campus and attacked him after being inspired by the same TikTok trend.
Assumption University police arrested and charged six students—four males and two females—for their roles in the incident.
The students allegedly invited the man for an in-person meeting after connecting on a dating platform, but instead of a date, the victim was reportedly ambushed by a mob of students who accused him of being a pedophile.
Investigators later clarified that the accusation against the man was unfounded.
Surveillance footage from the university reportedly captured an attack lasting over two minutes, during which roughly 40 students surrounded the man.
Footage and court documents described how the victim tried to flee to his vehicle, where assailants proceeded to kick the car and slam the door on his head.
One university spokesperson released a statement condemning the behavior as “abhorrent and antithetical to Assumption University‘s mission and values,” further adding, “The incident highlights the very real harm that social media can inflict when it promotes dangerous and irresponsible behavior.”
