DENVER (AP) — A judge has ordered the closure of an Aurora, Colorado, apartment complex where armed members of a Venezuelan gang were caught on video entering a unit last summer — footage that drew the attention of President-elect Donald Trump during the presidential campaign.
The emergency order beginning the closure process was issued ahead of a court hearing scheduled for Monday to discuss the complex’s fate after the city claimed the crime situation had reached a “breaking point.” In a court filing supporting a closure, Aurora police chief Todd Chamberlain said the kidnapping and beating of two residents at the complex last month underscored the danger posed by letting the apartments remain open.
“The Edge at Lowry Apartments is an epicenter for unmitigated violent crimes and property crimes perpetuated by a criminal element that has exerted control and fear over others residing at this apartment complex,” he said in an affidavit.
All but one of the complex’s six buildings will be closed, according to the order.
A lawyer representing the property owner, Stan Garnett, said he was not authorized to comment on the order.
The city said it is working with the surrounding county and others to provide relocation assistance to residents in the 60 affected apartments.
While the property’s owner, CBZ Management, previously said they were unable to provide maintenance 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.
Four of the six men shown in the August video have since been arrested, according to Aurora police. Two were taken into custody in New York City under a federal arrest warrant in December.
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 the two people arrested in New York were members of Tren de Aragua. The agency said those detained in the December kidnapping and beating were suspected members of the gang.
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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