Mount Prospect police said 11 juveniles are charged in connection with two attacks over the summer where victims were lured with a gay dating app (John Garcia/ABC 7 Chicago). YouTube Tips ⓘ
Fraud by omission is a type of fraud that occurs when someone withholds important information that could mislead another party and cause injury to that party. The goal of a fraudster would be to create a false impression or distort the truth, which can lead to financial harm or deception. A successful fraud by omission claim requires that information allegedly withheld is not ascertainable through publicly available sources. Additionally, a plaintiff in a fraud case must successfully argue there was intent to defraud.
While a case of fraud against the Village of Mount Prospect, the police chief, the village manager or other villager leaders may not be a legitimate case, the following scenario of a Village of Mount Prospect press release illustrates ethical concerns that are similar to a legitimate fraud case. Keep in mind that village managers frequently micromanage their police chiefs and fire chiefs to potentially suppress and filter information before information is released to the public.
Individuals that have a duty to disclose information often include physicians, attorneys, business partners and trustees. But what about police chiefs, fire chiefs, village managers, mayors or other leadership figures and municipalities? The supposed leaders are responsible for keeping peace in a community. The peace in a community involves not only absence and resolution of violent or hazardous scenes, but also should include remedies to alleviate fear of violence or hazards by disclosing the facts and information that provide for good judgment and risk reduction decisions by citizens of the community.
A fiduciary is a person or company engaged in a legal or ethical relationship of trust with one or more other parties (person or group of persons). Usually, a fiduciary manages money or other assets for another person. In this case of the Village of Mount Prospect, the assets are considered to be the monopoly information held by the municipality and entrusted to the municipality.
The fraudster or defendant can have a duty to disclose information if the alleged fraud by omission involves that …
the alleged fraudster provided limited or suppressed information on a topic or subject,
the alleged fraudster has a fiduciary relationship with the plaintiff, and
the defendant has special knowledge about information that is not publicly accessible to the public.
CARDINAL NEWS contends that municipalities gain monopoly control regarding information that is gained in the course of providing police, fire and EMS services. CARDINAL NEWS also contends that many municipalities neglect to provide important information to citizens that can help citizens avoid risks, avoid criminal exposure, avoid hazards; and become situationally aware of dynamic conditions that involve risks in their communities. These municipalities basically and culturally have a “there’s nothing to see here” attitude. The municipalities often use excuses to avoid providing information to the public. These excuses often include privacy concerns and investigation integrity claims that don’t actually apply or are overblown. CARDINAL NEWS also contends that the municipality is entrusted to provide information for citizens, but that the citizens often mistrust the municipality when information is mishandled.
Information about a case this year involving eleven teen juveniles allegedly using a gay dating app to lure victims was released by the Village of Mount Prospect long after the investigation of the case was completed or mostly completed. Therefore, investigational integrity should not have been an issue with the press release. Information about the case was also publicly released a significant amount of time after initial court hearings occurred.
In a press release, the omissions involved the failure of the Village of Mount Prospect to indicate …
that the teens used a gay dating app,
the name of the app or dating service,
whether the teens disguised their age, and
whether the victims were under investigation to rule out any possible wrongdoing, and if there was an investigation of the victims, a clarification of the status of the secondary investigation of the victims.
The Village of Mount Prospect omitted several important facts that are important to the case, which caused damage to the community and left the case open to speculation, rumor, confusion and misunderstanding. A post on the Mount Prospect Police Department’s official Facebook page about the crime included 227 comments from the community early Sunday morning that indicated many questions were unanswered, people were critical of the lack of information from the police, and that a wide range of rumors and speculation about the case occurred.
The omitted information also failed to provide a risk alert to a protected identity group — gay men.
The omitted information also caused unnecessary fear and concern for the general public that was not targeted by the teens.
The omitted information fostered lack of trust in the Mount Prospect Police Department press release and the Village of Mount Prospect in general — that the Village of Mount Prospect perhaps lacks respect for the safety concerns and justice concerns of its citizens.
The omitted information fostered mistrust and misinformation in the media at the local level and the national level. For example, CARDINAL NEWS was criticized on Facebook for not mentioning the name of the dating app, injuring the reputation of CARDINAL NEWS. Also, news aggregators CITIZEN FREE PRESS and DRUDGE REPORT both linked to the same NBC News (national) article that did not mention the name of the app, and did not mention that the app was a gay dating app when the NBC News article was retrieved at 5:24 a.m. Sunday December 29, 2024.
The omitted information also fostered mistrust by the media after the Village of Mount Prospect preferentially provided information to ABC 7 Chicago that revealed that the teens used a gay dating app to lure the male victims … “Police said the teens allegedly used a gay dating app back in July to lure their victims (ABC 7 Chicago).”
ORIGINAL CARDINAL NEWS ARTICLE
Published Fri Dec 27, 2024 09:36 am
The Mount Prospect Police Department charged eleven juveniles last month in connection with two incidents that occurred on Monday, July 8, 2024, in the Village of Mount Prospect. These incidents occurred in the parking lot of a Shell gas station and 7-Eleven, 606 West Northwest Highway just north of Central Road, and in a residential neighborhood west of Lincoln Middle School near See Gwun Avenue in the block of 900 West Lincoln Street. Following a police investigation, nine Mount Prospect juveniles and two Arlington Heights juveniles were arrested and charged between November 11 and November 20, 2024. The police department released the information about the case on Thursday, December 26, 2024.
A 41-year-old male victim on Monday, July 8, 2024, at approximately 9:45 p.m., arrived at the Mount Prospect Police Department to report he had been battered earlier in the evening by a group of teenagers in the parking lot of the business at 606 West Northwest Highway. The victim related that he had utilized an online dating app to arrange to meet a person at that location. After arriving, the victim told police 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 victim told police he fled in his vehicle, but the offenders followed him in their vehicles. The victim was eventually able to get away from the group of teenagers.
Next, Mount Prospect police officers responded at about 9:54 p.m. on Monday, July 8, 2024 to a report of a battery in the block of 400 See Gwun Avenue in Mount Prospect. Upon arrival, police officers spoke with a 23-year-old male victim who related that he was battered by a group of teenagers, who also damaged his vehicle. The victim told police that he had used an online dating app to arrange to meet a person in the block of 900 West Lincoln Street. After arriving, the victim was approached by a group of teenage males, who confronted him verbally and battered him. While this was occurring, one of the teenagers slashed the tires on the victim’s vehicle. The victim was able to get back to his vehicle and drove away, but then stopped his vehicle nearby after realizing some of his tires had been slashed. The victim approached a home and asked the residents at the home to call 911. The victim was transported from the scene by the Mount Prospect Fire Department paramedics to a local hospital with non-life-threatening injuries.
Mount Prospect Police Department detectives were able 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. An extensive investigation was conducted where eleven total juveniles were identified as taking part in one or both incidents. The investigation also found one of the Mount Prospect offenders yelled a racial term and another derogatory term during the incident, resulting in that juvenile offender being charged additionally with two counts of Hate Crime.
Mount Prospect Police Detectives consulted with the Cook County States Attorney’s Office, who approved charges related to the juvenile offenders. All the juvenile offenders willingly turned themselves in between November 11 and November 20, 2024. They were transported to the Cook County Juvenile Detention Center in Chicago.
CHARGED …
Juvenile #1 – Male, 17 years old, of Mount Prospect
2 felony counts of Aggravated Battery
2 felony counts of Criminal Damage to Property
2 felony counts of Mob Action
2 felony counts of Hate Crime
Juvenile #2 – Male, 17 years old, of Mount Prospect
1 felony count of Aggravated Battery with Great Bodily Harm
1 felony count of Criminal Damage to Property
1 felony count of Mob Action.
Juvenile #3 – Male, 17 years old, of Mount Prospect
2 felony counts of Aggravated Battery
2 felony counts of Criminal Damage to Property
2 felony counts of Mob Action
Juvenile #4 – Male, 17 years old, of Mount Prospect
2 felony counts of Aggravated Battery
2 felony counts of Criminal Damage to Property
2 felony counts of Mob Action
Juvenile #5 – Male, 17 years old, of Mount Prospect
2 felony counts of Aggravated Battery
2 felony counts of Criminal Damage to Property
2 felony counts of Mob Action
Juvenile #6 – Male, 17 years old, of Mount Prospect
2 felony counts of Aggravated Battery
2 felony counts of Criminal Damage to Property
2 felony counts of Mob Action
Juvenile #7 – Male, 17 years old, of Mount Prospect
1 felony count of Aggravated Battery with Great Bodily Harm
1 felony count of Criminal Damage to Property
1 felony count of Mob Action
Juvenile #8 – Male, 17 years old, of Arlington Heights
1 felony count of Aggravated Battery with Great Bodily Harm
1 felony count of Criminal Damage to Property
1 felony count of Mob Action
Juvenile #9 – Male, 17 years old, of Mount Prospect
1 felony count of Aggravated Battery with Great Bodily Harm
1 felony count of Criminal Damage to Property
1 felony count of Mob Action
Juvenile #10 – Male, 16 years old, of Arlington Heights
2 felony counts of Aggravated Battery
2 felony counts of Criminal Damage to Property
2 felony counts of Mob Action
Juvenile #11 – Male, 17 years old, of Mount Prospect
1 felony count of Aggravated Battery with Great Bodily Harm
1 felony count of Criminal Damage to Property
1 felony count of Mob Action
During the investigation, it was learned that some of the teenage offenders got the idea for the criminal activity through a viral social media trend they saw online. “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,” said Police Chief Michael Eterno.
The public is reminded that criminal charges are not evidence of guilt and that all defendants in a criminal case are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty in a court of law. None of the identities of the suspects were released to the public because the juveniles’ identities are protected by law.
^^ MOBILE? USE VOICE MIC ^^
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