GILBERT, AZ — A new notice of claim was filed Monday that names the Chandler Unified School District (CUSD), a school resource officer (SRO), and the Gilbert Police Department after a teen violence incident in August of 2023.
Rick Kuehner and his son are asking the school district for $6 million, according to the notice of claim obtained by ABC15. According to court documents, Kuehner's son was attacked at a Gilbert In-N-Out restaurant on August 18, 2023.
The case was marked as inactive for months, until December 2023, when ABC15 began asking questions about cases of teen violence in the East Valley.
In January 2024, six arrests were made in Kuehner's case. However, Monday's notice of claim accuses CUSD staff and the Gilbert Police School Resource Officer of gross negligence.
The new documents said staff and the SRO knew about threats from other students "refusing to intervene” before and after the attack. According to the claim, those threats included pictures of firearms.
"Rick, again, did what he should have done – he went back to Vice Principal Ames and SRO Allen. Rick assumed that [juvenile 1] and [juvenile 2] would be expelled - if not - arrested for making death threats and following through with a savage beating," reads part of the notice of claim. "Rick was wrong Vice Principal Ames and SRO Allen refused to take any meaningful action..."
The claim went on to say the action taken by school staff was to move one of the juveniles to a different seat, so Kuehner's son did not have to sit next to him.
Another portion of the claim said, "If this subject matter didn't include death threats and a six-against-one beating the actions of the CUSD and GPD adults-in-charge would be comical. But they're not. The non-response to death threats and gang violence by CUSD and GPD is deplorable."
ABC15 reached out to the Gilbert Police Department for a response to the notice of claim, the responded:
At this time, the Town of Gilbert has not received a Notice of Claim but learned of it from media reports. We cannot comment on any pending litigation; however, we will continue to have Chief Soelberg available to the media on a weekly basis regarding questions related to police investigations that are not subject to litigation.
CUSD told ABC15 they can't comment on pending litigation.
Kuehner also filed a lawsuit Friday against 50 people, including 17 who are accused of being a part of a group known as the "Gilbert Goons".
