Police deny Venezuelan gang took over dilapidated apartment complex in Denver suburb

Associated Press

AURORA, Colo. (AP) — Police in the Denver suburb of Aurora say a Venezuelan street gang with a small presence in the city has not taken over a run-down apartment complex. Still, the accusation continues to gain traction among conservatives and was amplified by former President Donald Trump at a Fox News town hall on Wednesday, where he said Venezuelans are “taking over the whole city.”

The unsubstantiated accusation gained traction after a resident of the complex shared a video last month showing armed men knocking on an apartment door, raising fears that the Tren de Aragua gang had taken control of the six-building complex.

However, city officials say the buildings, along with two other apartment complexes, have fallen into disrepair due to negligence by the property manager, CBZ Management.

Aurora is a diverse city that has long struggled with crime and gangs. Police say they have so far linked 10 people to Tren de Aragua and have arrested six of them, including suspects in an attempted murder in July.

But during a visit to the apartments where the gunmen were filmed, Aurora Interim Police Chief Heather Morris said gang members had not taken over the property and were not collecting rent. The comments came after Aurora Mayor Mike Coffman said “criminal elements” had taken over several unnamed buildings and were extorting residents.

Aurora Police Officer Matthew Longshore reiterated in an email to The Associated Press on Thursday that the agency has confirmed that residents are not paying rent to gang members, but they found that apartment managers are no longer sending representatives to the complex.

The city of Aurora is already taking legal action against Zev Baumgarten with CBZ for “years of property neglect and numerous code violations” after another building he managed in Aurora was closed for being uninhabitable. The residents were evicted in mid-August. Baumgarten’s trials, scheduled for August and September, have been postponed for at least six months.

CBZ did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The phone numbers for the two open apartment buildings that CBZ manages in Aurora have been disconnected.

After residents held a news conference to speak out against the gang’s claims, Coffman, a Republican and former congressman, admitted he’s “not sure where the truth is in all of this.” In an interview this week with Denver7, Coffman said the story that all of Aurora was unsafe was untrue and damaging to the economic health of the fast-growing city of more than 400,000.

Coffman was not immediately available Thursday to discuss the situation.

Trump has sought to capitalize on immigration concerns as he seeks a second term in November. During Wednesday night’s House floor, he reiterated his call for mass deportations after exaggerating the gang situation in Aurora.

“Look at Aurora, Colorado, where Venezuelans are taking over the whole city, they’re taking over buildings, the whole city,” Trump said. “You saw it the other day, they’re breaking down doors and taking people’s apartments.”

Among the nearly 1 million Venezuelan migrants who entered the U.S. in recent years have been suspected gang members with ties to police shootings, human trafficking and other crimes — but there is no evidence the gang has established an organizational structure in the U.S., Jeremy McDermott, the Colombia-based co-director of InSight Crime, told the AP this summer. He published a recent report on Tren de Aragua’s expansion.

Social media posts about a video purporting to show migrants taking over a school bus in San Diego and a 911 call reporting Venezuelan migrants taking over an apartment building in Chicago have also gained attention recently. Both were unsubstantiated.

Many immigrants from Venezuela and other Latin American countries living in the Aurora complex say there are no gangs and that they are unfairly portrayed as criminals.

They blamed New York-based CBZ Management for refusing to address bed bugs, rodents and constant water leaks, despite monthly rents of $1,200 or more. Residents fear they could be evicted, but the city said Wednesday there are no immediate plans to pursue that option.

“The only criminal here is the owner of the building,” Moises Didenot, who is from Venezuela, said through an interpreter at a news conference in a dusty courtyard of the complex on Tuesday.

He showed reporters mice he recently caught with sticky traps in the basement apartment he shares with his wife and 11-year-old daughter. Only two of the burners on their stove work, their ceiling fan is missing a blade and as soon as they clean their bathtub, the mold quickly creeps back, he said.

Aurora officials said in an Aug. 30 social media post that they were taking the gang’s presence in Venezuela seriously and indicated that more arrests were expected. They also said they would “continue to address the issues that the absentee, foreign owners of these properties have allowed to fester unchecked.”

The video that fueled the unsubstantiated accusation showed armed men, including one with a long gun, climbing a staircase and knocking on an apartment door. Former residents who filmed it told KDVR-TV it was taken before an Aug. 18 shooting at the complex that later left a 25-year-old man dead.

Aurora police spokesperson Sydney Edwards said police were in possession of the video and had seized evidence from it. She said she could not comment further on an ongoing investigation.

Additionally, the Aurora Police Department has created a task force with local, state and federal law enforcement agencies to specifically address concerns about Tren de Aragua and other criminal activity affecting immigrant communities.

“We will continue to investigate, prosecute and arrest those who commit crimes, and we will maintain a robust presence at these properties,” the city said in a statement Thursday.

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Hanson reported from Helena, Montana.