AURORA, CO - On Monday, December 16th, Aurora police responded to an armed home invasion where over a dozen suspects assaulted a male and female.
According to KDVR, 14 people were detained by policing following the reported armed home invasion at an apartment complex that authorities believe has been taken over by the violent Venezuelan gang, Tren de Aragua (TdA). The complex, known as the Edge at Lowry, has been deemed a troubled apartment complex after a viral video of a group of armed men surfaced back in August.
The video was taken shortly before a shootout at the complex left one person seriously injured and several vehicles damaged by gunfire. The apartment complex became a national topic when President-elect Donald Trump discussed the video during his presidential campaign. He also visited Aurora in October and displayed enlarged mugshots showing the men in the video.
On Tuesday, December 17th, Aurora Police Chief Todd Chamberlain said that the incident happened aroubd 8:45 p.m. when a female and male victim were accosted by 13-15 individuals. He said that 13 were male and possibly three suspects were female.
The victims were forced into a different unit in the same complex against their will. Chamberlain said that is when the victims were bound, beaten, pistol-whipped, and the male victim suffered a stab wound. He said some of the suspects then went into the victim's apartment and burglarized the unit.
Hours later, at 1:50 a.m., the victims courageously told the suspects they would not call the police if they were released. The victims were subsequently let go and went to a friend's home where they called the police. Chamberlain said officers immediately responded and obtained information about what happened.
Officers then locked down the Edge at Lowry apartment complex and located 15 individuals inside one unit. He said that based on preliminary evidence, it appeared most of those individuals were involved in the armed attack. Officers are working on search warrants for all the units involved and are working to identify the suspects.
Chamberlain said during a press conference, "I am utilizing any resource that I can to verify who these individuals are, who these suspects are, what their involvement is with this crime and what their identities are. I am presently using the Department of Homeland Security. I am using HSI and I am also using ICE to help identify who these suspects are and what actions they are involved in."
The 14 suspects have been detained, but not arrested because officers are still working to identify them. The victims were treated for non-life-threatening injuries.
During the press conference, Chamberlain said that based on his expertise, he can guarantee "without question, this is a gang incident." However, he said he didn't know which gang was involved and if it was TdA. He said it is incredibly hard to identify people belonging to TdA because there are no specific markers or identifiers unless the suspects self-identify. He said, however, there is a "high assumption" that the suspects in this case may be affiliated with TdA.
He said, "What I will say based on the actions that I saw, based on how the event unfolded, this is 100 percent gang activity." Chamberlain reiterated several times the courage that the victims had in reporting this crime. He said that it appears the victims are immigrants that came with the Venezuelan community.
Chamberlain said, "Again these individuals, like many gangs and many individuals involved with this type of activity, they victimize their own race and their own ethnicity. The reason they do that is because they are easy victims because they know of their status, they will not come forward to the police. They know they can mistreat them; they know they can do things to them that they couldn't do to anybody else in the community based upon their fear of what the ramifications would be if law enforcement gets involved in that."
During the press conference, Chamberlain said that APD has been focused on that apartment complex. He said, "As everybody knows and as the nation knows, this complex is an incredibly problematic complex. It is an incredibly crime-riddled complex that we have been focusing on, the city of Aurora has been focusing on, and without question, the attention will not stop until every individual who victimizes somebody else will be held accountable or be removed from that complex."
The apartment complex is set to close after the owner reached an agreement with the city. Proceedings will continue in January and if the buildings close the city will give at least 30 days' notice to current residents lawfully staying at the property.
According to KDVR, 14 people were detained by policing following the reported armed home invasion at an apartment complex that authorities believe has been taken over by the violent Venezuelan gang, Tren de Aragua (TdA). The complex, known as the Edge at Lowry, has been deemed a troubled apartment complex after a viral video of a group of armed men surfaced back in August.
The video was taken shortly before a shootout at the complex left one person seriously injured and several vehicles damaged by gunfire. The apartment complex became a national topic when President-elect Donald Trump discussed the video during his presidential campaign. He also visited Aurora in October and displayed enlarged mugshots showing the men in the video.
On Tuesday, December 17th, Aurora Police Chief Todd Chamberlain said that the incident happened aroubd 8:45 p.m. when a female and male victim were accosted by 13-15 individuals. He said that 13 were male and possibly three suspects were female.
The victims were forced into a different unit in the same complex against their will. Chamberlain said that is when the victims were bound, beaten, pistol-whipped, and the male victim suffered a stab wound. He said some of the suspects then went into the victim's apartment and burglarized the unit.
Hours later, at 1:50 a.m., the victims courageously told the suspects they would not call the police if they were released. The victims were subsequently let go and went to a friend's home where they called the police. Chamberlain said officers immediately responded and obtained information about what happened.
Officers then locked down the Edge at Lowry apartment complex and located 15 individuals inside one unit. He said that based on preliminary evidence, it appeared most of those individuals were involved in the armed attack. Officers are working on search warrants for all the units involved and are working to identify the suspects.
Chamberlain said during a press conference, "I am utilizing any resource that I can to verify who these individuals are, who these suspects are, what their involvement is with this crime and what their identities are. I am presently using the Department of Homeland Security. I am using HSI and I am also using ICE to help identify who these suspects are and what actions they are involved in."
The 14 suspects have been detained, but not arrested because officers are still working to identify them. The victims were treated for non-life-threatening injuries.
During the press conference, Chamberlain said that based on his expertise, he can guarantee "without question, this is a gang incident." However, he said he didn't know which gang was involved and if it was TdA. He said it is incredibly hard to identify people belonging to TdA because there are no specific markers or identifiers unless the suspects self-identify. He said, however, there is a "high assumption" that the suspects in this case may be affiliated with TdA.
He said, "What I will say based on the actions that I saw, based on how the event unfolded, this is 100 percent gang activity." Chamberlain reiterated several times the courage that the victims had in reporting this crime. He said that it appears the victims are immigrants that came with the Venezuelan community.
Chamberlain said, "Again these individuals, like many gangs and many individuals involved with this type of activity, they victimize their own race and their own ethnicity. The reason they do that is because they are easy victims because they know of their status, they will not come forward to the police. They know they can mistreat them; they know they can do things to them that they couldn't do to anybody else in the community based upon their fear of what the ramifications would be if law enforcement gets involved in that."
During the press conference, Chamberlain said that APD has been focused on that apartment complex. He said, "As everybody knows and as the nation knows, this complex is an incredibly problematic complex. It is an incredibly crime-riddled complex that we have been focusing on, the city of Aurora has been focusing on, and without question, the attention will not stop until every individual who victimizes somebody else will be held accountable or be removed from that complex."
The apartment complex is set to close after the owner reached an agreement with the city. Proceedings will continue in January and if the buildings close the city will give at least 30 days' notice to current residents lawfully staying at the property.
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