Aurora apartments in disputed viral ‘gang’ video to be shut down by city

AURORA | Aurora officials have notified owners of a now infamous apartment complex that they will take legal action in an effort to close the complex, mainly due to the rampant crime at The Edge in Lowry.

The complex at 1218 Dallas St. was the site of a home security video in August that showed armed men in an apartment hallway. This video went viral and became the center of heated controversy over Venezuelan immigrants and gang members.

Apartment complex owner CBZ Management has become the center of controversy as some of its apartment complexes in Aurora have become the focus of conflicting claims about gang members, immigrants and property mismanagement.

Officials of CBZ Management of the Sentinel were not immediately returned.

Aurora closed another CBZ apartment complex earlier this summer, raising fears among other tenants of CBZ properties that they too will be evicted as cold weather approaches. The apartments are filled mainly with financially struggling tenants, many of them immigrants.

Controversies in the area have sparked a firestorm across the country, culminating in presidential candidate Donald Trump’s insistence on false claims that all of Aurora has been taken over by Venezuelan Tren de Aragua gangs.

Although the Oct. 1 letter states that the city is prepared to file a lawsuit if the company does not act, it would still be “several weeks” before the building would be forced to close, according to Aurora Deputy Director of Communications Ryan Luby.

“Our primary focus is to get these delinquent property owners to take care of their properties and their tenants,” Luby said in an email.

The letter states that the city has decided it will file a criminal nuisance lawsuit against CBZ management for the six buildings on Dallas Street that are part of The Edge at Lowry complex by Oct. 6 if the company does not act.

The action would include the building where the infamous viral video was filmed on August 18. Building owners and Aurora City Council Member Danielle Jurinsky have claimed that the video, which shows six men with guns, knocking on an apartment door and walking inside, and another video The image of two men kicking in the door of an apartment somewhere in the complex is proof that the complex has been “taken over” by Venezuelan gangs. A man outside the apartment complex was fatally shot minutes after the armed men were seen on security footage, police said.

Aurora police announced Tuesday that they have identified all of the men in the Aug. 18 video and are in the process of issuing arrest warrants. Police said they are so far not aware of any evidence linking any of the men in the video to Venezuelan gangs, or to any “organized crime.”

Aurora officials in the letter point to repeated crime reports in the Edge and the lack of response to safety and other issues by the complex’s owners as grounds for a nuisance proceeding.

Mayor Mike Coffman has publicly called CBZ “slum landlords.”

It was the same procedure used to close the Aspen Grove apartments this summer after the city and residents reported unlivable conditions that the owner was unable to fix, in that case after more than two years of complaints.

City officials have repeatedly said they have offered to assist and work with CBZ to resolve issues including the lack of garbage disposal, police safety, lack of water and a long list of public health issues at this complex and others that own it are from CBZ.

Aurora city and police officials say they have focused on The Edge since the controversy erupted in August.

On September 20, the City of Aurora sent CBZ management a “Specified Crime Property Determination Notice” for the Edge. Six days later, the Aurora County Attorney’s Office served the CBZ board with a criminal nuisance action, including all six buildings in the complex.

The property owners will have 10 days before the city can file criminal charges in Aurora Municipal Court. If filed, the city will “seek” a closure, according to the letter.

Since an updated letter was sent on Sept. 26, property owners have until Oct. 6, city officials said Tuesday.

“The city will be prepared to file the necessary pleadings to commence the criminal nuisance action against these six properties in Aurora Municipal Court during the week of October 14, 2024,” the letter said.

The city’s letter requests that CBZ Management manage its properties or hire a qualified property management company for the six properties along Dallas Street by Oct. 14. In that case, the city will be willing to discuss the filing delay, the letter said.

The city offered to provide a temporary police presence at the property, but the offer was not accepted, city officials previously said.

“To be clear, this situation is different from the circumstances that caused one of your client’s other properties, located at 1568 Nome St, Aurora, to close,” the letter said.

The Aspen Grove apartment complex on Nome Street is the Aurora complex that had to close on August 13 due to negligence. Officials and legal representatives of CBZ management have repeatedly insisted that that complex was also “overrun” by Venezuelan gang members, preventing the company from managing the apartment complex. Aurora police and city officials have repeatedly disputed the claim, saying gang members appeared to have been on the scene but that the problems were caused by years of neglect and mismanagement.

Unlike the Nome Street apartments, the six Dallas Street apartments are primarily cited for criminal activity.

“Criminal activity on a property constitutes a public nuisance under the Aurora Municipal Code,” reads the Specific Crime Property Determination notice sent by the Aurora Police Department on September 20. “Property owners are expected to be vigilant in preventing or deterring crime on or in their properties and will be held responsible for the use of their properties by tenants, guests and residents.”

The criminal activity listed in one of the buildings in the complex, at 1208 Dallas St., includes aggravated assault with a blunt weapon, civil disorder, trespassing, apprehension of fugitives, repeated noise disturbances, shots fired, aggravated assault with a firearm, weapons offenses and murder.

Related