Gang-related kidnapping at apartment puts Colorado city back in national immigration debate

By Elizabeth Wolfe, CNN

(CNN) — The city of Aurora, Colorado, has reentered the national debate on immigration after a man and woman were dragged from a unit in an apartment complex Monday night and bound, beaten and pistol-whipped, police say.

Police Chief Todd Chamberlain described the incident at The Edge on Lowry apartments as “without question a gang incident,” noting that both the perpetrators and victims are likely Venezuelan immigrants, some of whom may be undocumented.

Nineteen suspects were detained, but three were later released, Aurora police spokesperson Joe Moylan said. The remaining 16 suspects are in custody of federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

Police are working with federal authorities to determine what gang affiliation, if any, the suspects have, Chamberlain said during a briefing Tuesday. That includes probing whether they may be connected to the notorious Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua, whose members have previously been identified in the city. Chamberlain said Tuesday there was a “high assumption” the gang was involved.

No charges have been filed, and the suspects’ names have not been released.

The victims reported the attack to police and were being treated at a hospital for non-life-threatening injuries, the police chief said.

Renewed immigration controversy

The attack has brought renewed attention to the nondescript row of brick apartment buildings and the city of Aurora, which just months ago became a flashpoint in the national conflict over immigration.

President-elect Donald Trump repeatedly compared the Denver suburb to a “war zone” while on the campaign trail, echoing unsubstantiated rumors that Venezuelan gangs were violently assuming control over parts of the city amid an influx of migrants into the Aurora and Denver areas.

But local officials argue that while organized criminal activity is present in Aurora, the issue has become grossly exaggerated and is limited to a handful of apartment buildings in a city of more than 400,000 residents.

Chamberlain said The Edge has become a focus of his police department, which has been “proactively” working to address crime at the property and does “nonstop” patrols in the area.

“It is an incredibly crime-riddled complex … the attention (on it) will not stop until every individual that victimizes somebody else will be held accountable or be removed from that complex.”

But the problem extends beyond that property, he said.

“We have a gang problem in Aurora without question,” Chamberlain said. “We have 25-some gangs like every major city does. We have a number of gang members and it’s not just up in that area. It’s not just in that complex. It’s throughout the entire city of Aurora.”

Aurora Mayor Mike Coffman echoed the police chief’s concerns in a statement Wednesday but insisted the city should not be defined by its recent criminal woes.

“Aurora, like every other major city across the country, must tackle crime – especially concentrated pockets of crime – aggressively. But as I have said repeatedly, specific bad actors and problematic properties do not reflect on this city as a whole,” Coffman said.

Local officials also pointed out the longstanding concern that immigrants are disproportionately targeted as victims of crime.

“It’s imperative that our public safety policies prioritize protecting every resident of Aurora, regardless of their immigration status,” Alison Coombs, Aurora City Council member at large said.

How the attack unfolded

Investigators say the home invasion began around 8:45 p.m. in an apartment unit in The Edge at Lowry. The male and female victims were accosted by more than a dozen armed people and taken against their will to another unit inside the same complex, Chamberlain said.

The victims were bound and “terrorized” as some of the suspects returned to their apartment, ransacked and stole their belongings, the police chief said. The man was stabbed and both were bound and pistol-whipped, he said.

Just before 2 a.m., the victims pleaded for their release, telling their alleged kidnappers they would not report the attack to the police, Chamberlain said. The pair was released and drove to a friend’s house, where they immediately called the police.

Officers responded to the apartment complex and locked down the property, where they found about 15 people in one apartment, many of whom are suspects in the attack, Chamberlain said.

“Most of them are without question or most likely … undocumented or immigrants to the city of Aurora,” Chamberlain said.

Police are seeking search warrants for several locations believed to be related to the kidnapping, he said.

The US Department of Homeland Security, Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Homeland Security Investigations are assisting in the case. CNN has sought comment from the agencies.

Victims were Venezuelan migrants

The victims of Monday’s attack are believed to be Venezuelan migrants, and Chamberlain applauded their “incredible amount of courage” reporting the crime, despite fears that their immigration status may lead to repercussions against them.

Chamberlain said the suspects likely targeted the victims because they believed they would not report the crime to police.

“These individuals, like many gangs and many individuals involved in this type of activity, they victimize their own race and their own ethnicity,” the police chief said. “The reason they do that is because they are easy victims because they know because of their status they will not come forward to the police.”

Chamberlain encouraged anyone – regardless of their immigration status – to feel comfortable contacting Aurora police if they have been the victim of a crime.

“There is no place in this country, there is no place in this city where somebody should be victimized or mistreated based upon their documentation status,” he added.

CNN’s Lucy Kafanov and Hanna Park contributed to this report.

The-CNN-Wire
™ & © 2024 Cable News Network, Inc., a Warner Bros. Discovery Company. All rights reserved.