Colorado apartment complex where armed gang members were seen on video will be closed
AURORA, Colo. (AP) — A Colorado apartment complex where armed members of a Venezuelan gang were caught on video entering a unit last summer is expected to close in about a month under an emergency court order, city officials said Monday.
The city of Aurora had pursued a lawsuit to declare all but one building at the complex a criminal nuisance. Officials last week asked a judge to close the property in the meantime, arguing the situation reached a “breaking point” following the violent kidnapping and assault of two residents last month.
The city’s request was granted Friday ahead of a court hearing Monday.
Lawyers for the property owner, CBZ Management, dispute the city's allegations and have asked for a trial to decide the lawsuit. However, the process to close the building will still continue as the lawsuit plays out in court, Aurora City Attorney Pete Schulte said at a news conference following the hearing.
A lawyer representing the property owner, Stan Garnett, said he was not authorized to comment on the order.
While CBZ Management has previously said it was unable to provide maintenance to the complex because a notorious Venezuelan gang, Tren de Aragua, took over the buildings, the city has said the company created the problem by abandoning the running of them, which created a vacuum that let crime flourish.
Aurora Police Chief Todd Chamberlain backed the closure, saying in a court filing that the complex had become a hub for crime because of a "criminal element that has exerted control and fear” over residents.
After the hearing, Chamberlain said he believed that members of Tren de Aragua were part of the problem there, noting that federal authorities say seven of the suspects in the kidnapping and assault are members of the gang. However, Chamberlain said gang members had not taken over the complex and emphasized that the main problem was the lack of management and oversight by the property's owners.
The city said it is working with the surrounding county and others to provide relocation assistance to residents in 52 affected apartments.
The footage of the armed men at the complex from August drew the attention of President-elect Donald Trump during the presidential campaign. During a rally in Aurora in September, Trump announced a plan called “Operation Aurora” to target migrant gangs.
Four of the six men shown in the August video have since been arrested, according to Aurora police.
There was speculation at the time the video circulated that it showed members of a gang.
Authorities did not confirm a connection until December when Immigration and Customs Enforcement said two suspects from the video who were arrested in New York were members of Tren de Aragua.
According to Colorado court documents, the rifle seen in the video was used in a fatal shooting about 10 minutes later outside the apartment complex. It was found disassembled in an oven in one of the apartments, according to an arrest warrant.
The city did not seek the closure of a sixth building at the complex because a different branch of CMZ owns it. That building is being managed by a court-appointed official at the request of the mortgage lender who is making improvements to the building, according to the city.
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