Aurora Police Chief: Gangs Didn’t Take Over City

AURORA, Colo. (KDVR) – Aurora police have no evidence that the people seen on video entering an apartment with a gun are involved with a gang, specifically the Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua.

FOX31 was the first station to release the video taken inside The Edge at Lowry apartments, which showed multiple men, armed with at least one gun, entering an apartment.

The video was recorded at 11:20 p.m. on August 18. According to police, the men entered the apartment looking for a specific person, but they could not find him.

Minutes later, police said the men were involved in a shooting that left one person dead. Investigators said they believe the incidents are connected.

“At this time, we have no information that leads us to believe or indicate that these individuals are involved with any specific gang. As we continue our investigation, if that information comes out, we will investigate those leads as we do,” said Aurora Police Lt. DJ Tisdale of the Special Operations Division.

Aurora police say there is no connection between the suspects and the gang, but sources with the Department of Homeland Security told FOX31’s affiliate NewsNation that the people seen in the video have ties to Tren de Aragua, also known as TdA.

Investigation into crimes in apartment complexes

Police said they have identified three people involved in the activity at The Edge on Lowry. One of the suspects was arrested on August 20, and two others are wanted on warrants for first-degree burglary and felony menacing.

The suspects have been identified as 21-year-old Naudi Lopez-Fernandez, who is in custody, and 25-year-old Anderson Zambrano-Pacheco and 20-year-old Niefred Jose Serpa-Acosta, both of whom are wanted by police.

“We’re not going to police the population too harshly based on race or ethnicity, we’re going to do it methodically, statistically, data-driven, evidence-based to make sure we’re targeting the individuals that are causing the problems, the individuals that are creating the issues,” said Aurora Police Chief Todd Chamberlain.

Gangs haven’t overrun Aurora, chief says

While reports of the incidents at The Edge at Lowry and several other apartment complexes have been attributed to migrant gangs, the police chief said there is no specific evidence of that.

“Like most major cities, Aurora has its crime problems and its gang activity. I think that’s very obvious when you look at a major city, those two things are in place. But we’re certainly not being overwhelmed by that problem, we’re certainly not being overtaken by Venezuelan gangs, TdA or any other gang,” Chamberlain said at a news conference Friday morning.

One concern, Chamberlain said, was that people could be identified as gang members. It can be hard to know for sure.

“Unless someone identifies themselves and says ‘I’m a TdA gang member,’ we don’t know,” Chamberlain said. “We can say that this tattoo or this marking is an aspect of being a TdA gang member. But the one thing I think is positive about most gang members is they like to brag and they’re very talkative, and I think over time you’re going to see individuals start to identify themselves or identify themselves as ‘yes, I’m a TdA gang member’ or yes, I’m a gang that they’re also a part of.”

A related concern is the risk that arises from saying that someone is a member of or has ties to a gang when they are not.

“It’s going to take time; it’s going to take very specific investigation and it’s going to be making sure that we don’t misidentify someone, because I think that’s also very important. If you identify someone as a gang member, that’s going to be with them for the rest of their life, and that’s not something I’m going to do in this agency,” Chamberlain said.

Problems in apartment buildings are the ‘perfect storm’

The chief also said there is no evidence that gang members have taken over apartment buildings and collected rent. However, he did say that the landlords and property management companies of specific apartment complexes are part of a larger impact on the community.

“I think this is almost a perfect storm. This is not just a law enforcement event. We’re looking at the property management, we’re looking at the landlords, there have been a number of civil actions taken against the individuals who control those apartment complexes,” Chamberlain said.

Chamberlain said the department first noticed an increase in the Venezuelan population in the city in September 2023, and with it a slight increase in criminal activity.

“The one thing we’ve noticed is that we’ve had an increase in aggravated assaults, and again, a lot of that has to do with the activity here. But it’s not at a level where it’s completely out of control,” he said.

Aurora focuses on crime, not immigration

Chamberlain mentioned several times during Fridy’s press conference that the department, which he just became chief of in September, is focused on protecting people who live in the city and not on the immigration status of those involved.

“That’s not what the Aurora Police Department is about, we’re not about immigration status. We want individuals who are victims, we want individuals who are being abused to come forward. We want to help you, and we will help you. This is not about immigration; this is not about documented or undocumented. This is about victimization, and the role of law enforcement is to stop that victimization,” he said.

Chamberlain also said the department is working with other organizations to get to the root of the problem and help people who have migrated to the city.

“This isn’t just about enforcement, it’s about the number of immigrants, the number of undocumented individuals that have come to the city of Aurora or any other place in the United States. How do we get individuals on a path that takes them away from that and puts them on a different path? How do we intervene, how do we partner with youth services, how do we work on different things to show them another opportunity?” he said.