Aurora lawmakers insist, without evidence, that Venezuelan gang responsible for apartment closures

Immigrants from Venezuela remain the focus of ongoing controversy in Aurora. Four lawmakers from the city spoke out Thursday, telling stories about gang members, flash mobs and the nation’s immigration policies.

City officials have told residents they must vacate their uninhabitable apartments in the North Aurora complex by next Tuesday. Some city lawmakers say, without providing evidence or details, that the move is a result of Venezuelan gang activity.

Lawmakers also commented on other recent controversies surrounding immigrants in Venezuela.

Members of the Aurora City Council Public Safety Committee and Mayor Mike Coffman spontaneously got into a conversation about recent issues regarding immigrants and refugees from Venezuela living in Aurora and Denver.

On July 28, some 4,000 cars gathered in the parking lots of the Gardens on Havana shopping mall in the west-central part of Aurora, apparently celebrating the political downfall of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro.

Maduro has been in power ever since, despite international demands that he step down following an election defeat and electoral fraud by his government.

Some city council members and witnesses described the events in Aurora on July 28 as violent, criminal and destructive.

A storm of social media posts about the flash mob event prompted police to conduct a ‘fact check’ the next day of what they said was misinformation.

A few days later, the owner of an apartment complex in northwest Aurora and his public relations agent told the media that Venezuelan gangs had effectively taken over his 99-unit complex.

City officials rejected the claim, saying the complex will be closed next week after more than two years of neglect and mismanagement that have left it with a string of public safety and health violations and rendered the complex uninhabitable.

“None of us believe that narrative, that this is based on a code enforcement violation,” Councilwoman Danielle Jurinsky said at the end of the committee meeting, referring to herself and her fellow committee members, Councilmen Stepahnie Hancock and Steve Sundberg. “The three of us believe that there is a huge gang problem.”

Although city officials have provided extensive municipal and court documents documenting hundreds of unsafe living conditions and police calls to the building, police have not publicly disclosed whether any members of the Tren de Aragua gang are active in the complex and responsible for the crimes.

Sundberg said he is convinced the TDA gang is extensive and that they have “taken over” several apartment complexes in the city.

Coffman distanced himself from the claims, saying he was confident TDA gangs were present in the metro area, but that the history of security violations at the embattled complex is well known and that police have not made it clear which crimes at the complex were gang-related.

“The problems there go back a long way,” Coffman said.

He pushed back against claims by Jurinsky and Hancock that the flash mob event at the Gardens on Havana was a “test run” by Venezuelan immigrants in plans to repeat similar events in Aurora.

“It’s a one-off,” Coffman said. He said the crowd appeared to be caused by early news of the Maduro election by unruly and unrelated people, and not by an event planned by an organization or gang.

“I don’t want to confuse the gang issue with what happened in Havana,” he said.

On Thursday, however, lawmakers in the city said that U.S. border policies and management are to blame for the influx of illegal immigrants, which is overwhelming local resources.

Aurora Deputy Police Chief Chris Juul said police are confident there are immigrants in the metro area who have ties to the TDA gang, but the extent of their involvement in local crime is still under investigation.

“We’re working hard on it,” Juul said. An internal police task force has been set up to focus on the issue. “We’re learning a lot about this community.”

All three city council representatives indicated that they want better communication from the police and city government to themselves and the public, in case of future incidents or about current controversies.

Aspen Grove Controversy

The owner of the 99-unit Aspen Grove Apartments apartment complex at 1568 Nome St. told sentry Colorado Earlier this week, Aurora police failed to control what they say is rampant Venezuelan gang activity in their apartment complexes. The city denies this, pointing to a property manager who is being sued over numerous health and safety code violations in the building dating back to 2019 — before Venezuelan immigrants arrived in Colorado — as the real problem.

All residents of Aspen Grove, listed in city records as “1568 Nome,” are facing eviction next week as the city moves to close the complex, which has been declared uninhabitable. The complex’s owner calls it “Aspen Grove,” some city records and online rental sites refer to it as “Fitzsimons Place.”

Aurora released photos and documents to the media yesterday showing persistent and widespread rat, mouse and cockroach infestations, piles of trash, dangerous electrical and plumbing problems, and other health and safety issues.

The city has taken steps to close the complex through municipal “nuisance” laws, citing a string of documented crimes and its maintenance.

CLICK HERE TO READ THE “NUISANCE” ORDER

Underlying the growing dispute is how Denver and Aurora will handle the challenges of a wave of 40,000 Venezuelan migrants who have poured into the region in the past two years. The influx of migrants has overstretched local immigrant resources.

The crisis is a recurring theme in the 2024 parliamentary elections, which will pit local and national political parties against each other.

On July 28, an estimated 4,000 cars flooded a shopping mall in Aurora. The flash mob, sparked by social media posts, attracted people focused on the outcome of Venezuela’s July 28 presidential election.

City officials said Monday that the legal action to close Aspen Grove has nothing to do with any of this.

The owner spoke to the sentryby telephone, together with his spokesman. He asked to remain anonymous, because he feared violence and threats against him and his family.

The city has identified the property’s owner in numerous court documents as Nome Partners LLC. Court documents against the property name Zev Baumgarten and Nome Partners LLC, a Denver company.

The owner told the Sentinel that he has been pressuring Aurora police since September of last year to help remove what he alleges are members of the Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua, who have been squatting in his buildings and threatening his tenants and employees.

He said tenants told him that gang members were breaking into vacant apartments, patrolling with assault rifles and threatening them that they had to pay the rent to the gang members, not the landlord.

City officials deny that this is part of the strike issue, but police would not say whether TDA gangs or members are active in this complex or other complexes nearby.

A document obtained by the sentry Albuquerque Police warned police in the Denver area that the TDA gang is active and that they have been given a “green light” by gang leaders in Venezuela to shoot local police officers.

In a statement to the sentry On Wednesday, Denver police said the “department takes the presence of Tren de Aragua seriously and protecting the safety of our residents and our officers is always our top priority.

“There are reasons to believe that members of this gang have ties to crimes in the area,” police said. “Confirming gang affiliation is difficult because suspected members of this gang often provide false identities during contacts with law enforcement and generally do not admit to gang membership.”

Denver police said: “In collaboration with law enforcement partners, we continue to actively investigate to learn more about the gang, its members and any associated criminal activity so we can respond appropriately – just as we would with any gang or criminal organization.”

Aurora police have not responded to the Sentinel’s alert.

However, city officials have repeatedly stated that the Aspen Grove issue has nothing to do with this.

CLICK HERE TO SEE ALL PHOTOS, REPORTS AND RECORDS PROVIDED BY THE CITY OF AURORA

Aurora spokesman Ryan Luby points to a September 2023 order for the complex’s managers to stop ignoring years of documented criminal activity or face the consequences of a city “nuisance” law.

The measure will be imposed next Tuesday. On Wednesday, eviction notices were posted throughout the complex and every tenant was notified.

However, the owner of the complex says that not only has the APD not responded to most of his calls, but due to their inaction, the gang members have completely taken over his property and he has not been there in almost six weeks.

“I’ve told them over and over again that if you had taken this seriously eight or nine months ago, you probably could have eradicated it with relative ease,” he told the Sentinel.

Aurora said the allegations are “red herrings” and fabricated stories. The years-long history of “substantial, long-standing, unresolved code violations” and unchecked crimes committed by and against residents began in 2020 — the year after the owner bought the property, according to city records.

Problems include rodent infestations, lack of heat and electricity, sewer overflows, trash buildup, water leaks and broken or missing windows, city officials said.

Online apartment search sites list the average rent for a two-bedroom, 750-square-foot apartment in Aspen Grove at around $1,600 per month.

Aurora officials said the owner also stopped paying the property’s water bill. The amount of that past-due amount was not immediately available.

The “nuisance” letter sent to the complex’s owner and manager last September specifically threatened to close the apartment building due to criminal nuisance. It noted more than 100 calls for service at just one building from October 2022 to September 2023. These included calls for shots fired, stolen cars, trespassing, public disorder, assault, arson, drugs and loitering.

The owner told the Sentinel that these are issues that should be addressed by police.

“They can’t expect landowners to solve these problems,” he said.

As of Monday night, it was unclear whether a solution other than closing the building could be found next week. Residents have until the morning of Aug. 13 to vacate their apartments, officials said.

The city acknowledged that there is no shelter for the building’s tenants and said it is instead working with the state to find available resources and with the metro area’s nonprofit organization.

Reporter Andrew Fraieli contributed to this report.