Venezuelan Gang Tren de Aragua and others Overtake Aurora, Colorado Apartment Complex
Is Denver Turning into Another UK or France, With its Immigrants?
The owner of the 99-unit apartment complex at Aspen Grove Apartments at 1568 Nome St. told Sentinel Colorado the Aurora Police Department has failed to control what he says is unchecked Venezuelan gang activity at his apartment buildings. The city denies that and points to a property manager facing court action for numerous health and safety code violations at the building dating back to 2019 — before Venezuelan immigrants arrived in Colorado — as the real problem.
All of the residents at Aspen Grove, listed in city records as “1568 Nome” face eviction next week as the city is moving to close down the complex, stating that the complex is uninhabitable. The owner of the complex refers to it as “Aspen Grove,” some city records and online rental sites refer to it as “Fitzsimons Place.”
Aurora provided photos and records to the media yesterday documenting consistent and widespread rat, mice and cockroach infections, piles of garbage, dangerous electrical and plumbing issues among other health and safety problems.
The city has moved to shut down the complex through municipal “nuisance” laws, citing the catalog of documented crimes and upkeep.
Underlying the growing dispute is how Denver and Aurora are handling the challenges of a wave of up to 40,000 Venezuelan migrants coming to the region over the past two years. The surge of migrants has overloaded local immigrant resources.
The crisis has become regular fodder in the 2024 General Election, pitting local and national political factions against each other.
Last week, an Aurora shopping center was overrun with an estimated 4,000 cars as a disorderly flash-mob, lured by social media posts, attracted people focused on the results of the July 28 Venezuelan presidential election.
City officials said yesterday, the legal action to shut down Aspen Grove is unrelated to all of that.
The owner spoke to the Sentinel, via telephone, with his public relations representative, asking not to be named, citing a fear of violence and threats against him and his family.
The city has identified the property owner in numerous court documents as Nome Partners LLC. Court filings against the property name Zev Baumgarten and Nome Partners LLC, a Denver company.
The owner told the Sentinel that he’s pushed Aurora Police since last September to help remove what he claims are members of the Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua squatting in his buildings and threatening his tenants and employees.
He said tenants described to him gang members breaking into vacant apartments, patrolling with assault rifles, and threatening them to pay rent to the gang members, not the owner.
City officials deny that this is part of the cease issue, but police officials would not say if there is TDA gang activity or members at this complex or others nearby.
A document obtained by the Sentinel from Albuquerque Police warned police in the Denver area that the TDA gang is active and was given a “green light” by gang leaders in Venezuela to shoot local law enforcement officers.
In a statement to the Sentinel, 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 are tied to crimes in the area,” police said. “Confirming gang affiliation is challenging because suspected members of this gang often give false identities during law enforcement contacts and typically do not admit membership to the gang.”
Denver police said, ” In coordination with law enforcement partners, continues actively investigating to learn more about the gang, its members, and any associated criminal activity so we can respond accordingly – just as we do for any gang or criminal organization.”
Aurora police have not responded to the Sentinel regarding the warning.
City officials, however, repeatedly said the issue at Aspen Grove is unrelated to that.
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Online apartment finding sites list average rent at Aspen Grove for a 2-bedroom, 750-square-foot apartment at about $1,600 a month.
Aurora officials said the owner also has also stopped paying the property’s water bill. The amount of that past due was not immediately available.
The “nuisance” letter sent last September to the complex owner and property manager threatened to close down the apartment building specifically for criminal nuisance, pointing to over 100 calls for service to only one building from October 2022 to September of 2023. These included calls for shots fired, stolen cars, trespassing, disturbing the peace, assault, arson, drugs and loitering.
The owner told the Sentinel that those are problems for the police to address.
“They can’t expect these issues to be resolved by landowners,” he said.
It was unclear Monday night whether there can be a resolution by next week other than closing down the building. Residents will have until the morning of Aug. 13 to vacate their apartments, officials said.
The city acknowledged they do not have shelter for the tenants of the building, and instead say they are working with the state for available resources and the metro area’s nonprofit community.
Representatives of regional immigration community support and activist groups were not immediately available.
Source: https://sentinelcolorado.com/metro/aurora-apartment-owner-says-cops-let-immigrant-gang-overrun-a-complex-but-officials-say-neglect-turned-it-into-a-slum/
Update from Two Days Ago
Is Denver doomed? The same thing is happening in France and the UK!
Why do you think they let these things happen?
Government fault
The worst part of all the problems we have, is that they didn't need to happen. Most , if not all of this evil was planned well in advance and executed on schedule.