Despite Pinal County court records, Alisha Tidwell claims her son has no association with the group.
20-year-old Jacob Pennington is now the first arrestee to claim association with the group known as the “Gilbert Goons”.
He was arrested Wednesday in connection to an assault investigation from November 2023 in Pinal County.
PCSO told ABC15 the assault was caught on camera and that video was turned over to investigators.
“We decided through our investigation that Jacob Pennington, 20 years old, from Gilbert, was one of our main suspects in that,” said Pinal County Sheriff Mark Lamb. “So, this morning we arrested him on that case.”
Court documents accused Jacob of not only hitting the victim but also holding him down while others continued the attack.
Sheriff Lamb told ABC15 Wednesday more arrests could be coming.
“Anybody that watches the video can see that there’s more than one person involved in this assault,” said Sheriff Lamb.
Court records showed Jacob told deputies during his interview, he was associated with the group the “Gilbert Goons”.
Currently, PCSO is one of several agencies across the state investigating if the group can be classified as a criminal street gang.
ABC15 is taking action to get the answers needed as teen violence incidents occur in the East Valley. Follow our latest coverage here.
Jacob’s brother, Noah Pennington, is also behind bars for weapons and drug charges.
The ABC15 Investigators found court records that showed Noah was also charged in a violent assault case involving a 14-year-old in May of 2023.
Documents said Noah had been involved in multiple shootings and crimes of violence in the Gilbert area and the incidents, police said, were escalating in frequency and severity.
“I don’t know why Gilbert PD stated that,” said Alisha Tidwell, Jacob and Noah Pennington's mom.
She spoke exclusively with ABC15 and claimed there was more to the story when it came to Jacob’s arrest.
“A young woman was hit,” said Tidwell. “And as Jacob turned around and saw her be hit, he just reacted.”
Tidwell also claimed neither of her sons are associated with the “Gilbert Goons”.
“I truly don’t believe there’s a Gilbert Goons group,” said Tidwell.
ABC15 read Tidwell the court documents from Pinal County and asked what she would tell people hearing what was written.
“That I don’t know where that came from,” said Tidwell. “I don’t know why they are saying Jake self-proclaims to be a part of the Gilbert Goons.”
Tidwell told ABC15, she has talked to Jacob since his arrest Wednesday morning and did ask him about the court documents.
“Yes, and he just said, 'That’s not what I said,'” said Tidwell.
Jacob's name is the first connection to the Gilbert Goons that ABC15 has heard of.
Gilbert Police have not answered questions on camera about the group, that they first denied knowing about.
Police say the investigation into teen violence in the community remains ongoing.
ABC15 will continue to push for answers for the community.
