3 identified in viral video of Aurora apartment; police say gang ties unknown

AURORA Police have arrested one man, issued arrest warrants for two more suspects and are searching for three other unidentified men in connection with last month’s viral video showing six armed men storming a building in northwest Aurora and breaking into an apartment.

The surveillance video was recorded by a resident on the night of Aug. 18, seven minutes before police say 25-year-old Oswaldo Jose Dabion Araujo was killed by a gunshot at the same complex, The Edge at Lowry, at Dallas Street and East 12th Avenue. While the investigation is ongoing, detectives believe the gunmen seen in the video are connected to the shooting.

One of them, Naudi Lopez-Fernandez, 21, is in custody, and Aurora police are searching for two other suspects, Anderson Zambrano-Pacheco, 25, and Niefred Jose Serpa-Acosta, 20 — all of whom are charged with first-degree burglary and aggravated menacing. Police are trying to identify the three remaining gunmen in the footage, who, like Zambrano-Pacheco and Serpa-Acosta, remain at large.

Officers found the rifle and scope seen in the video in an apartment next to the apartments caught on camera.

During his first press conference since being sworn in on Sept. 9, new Aurora Police Chief Todd Chamberlain said none of the suspects have been linked to any gang or organized crime group.

That claim, at least for now, debunks claims made by Aurora Councilwoman Danielle Jurinsky and Mayor Mike Coffman in late August that the men are members of the Venezuelan prison gang Tren de Aragua, also known as TdA. While Coffman has since walked back those claims, the false narrative that TdA members have been sweeping apartment complexes in Aurora has gone so viral that Donald Trump is using it as an anti-immigration talking point in his presidential campaign.

The new chief did not rule out the possibility that the suspects are members of the TdA. He noted that the deterioration of diplomatic relations between the U.S. and Venezuela — and the refusal of Venezuelan law enforcement to share information about criminals or gang members from that country — makes it difficult for police to prove gang affiliation.

“The one positive thing about most gang members is that they like to show off, and they’re very talkative, and I think after a while you’ll see people start to identify or self-identify as, ‘Yeah, I’m a TdA gang member,’ or ‘Yeah, I’m a whatever-gang-they-belong-to.’ But it’s going to be a process. It’s not going to happen overnight. It’s going to take time.”

Chamberlain was careful to note that “we do not want to falsely identify any individual as a gang member.”

He said APD is methodical.

“You identify someone as a gang member that’s going to be with them for the rest of their life. That’s one (thing) I’m not going to do with this agency,” he said. “We’re not going to act on this impulsively. We’re going to be methodical, we’re going to be precise, and we’re going to be evidence-based.”

Chamberlain stressed that the police investigation focuses on the suspects’ alleged criminal behavior, not their immigration status. He noted that many Venezuelans feel uncomfortable reporting crimes because they are undocumented.

“We want individuals who are victims, we want individuals who are being abused to come forward,” Chamberlain said. “We want to help and we will help.”

That said, he pledged to use “every tool” and opportunity to join efforts with local, state and federal law enforcement agencies “to ensure that criminals are found and brought to justice.” Still, he noted that “we are not going to over-police the population based on their race or (ethnicity).”

Chamberlain debunked the much-discussed statements made by Jurinsky and Coffman this summer suggesting that TdA and Venezuelan migrants in general have taken over apartment complexes and overwhelmed police:

“We are absolutely not overwhelmed by that problem. We are absolutely not overtaken by (Venezuelan) gangs, TDA or any other gang.”

The Edge at Lowry, along with two other apartment complexes in Aurora — Aspen Grove and Whispering Pines — are owned and managed by the same company, CBZ Management, and have been the subject of multiple complaints about structural problems, flooding, broken appliances, mold, and major pest and vermin infestations. The city shut down Aspen Grove due to building and safety code violations, forcing hundreds of mostly Venezuelan residents to find new homes.

Chamberlain signed a nuisance complaint for all three properties on Friday. Meanwhile, city officials said the owner and management company have failed to cooperate in repairing the complexes and making them more livable.

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