Aurora police say they have arrested one man and have warrants for two others who were recorded carrying guns through an apartment complex in a viral video last month.
The men were allegedly seen with handguns and a rifle, “knocking on doors and unlawfully entering apartments” at the complex on Dallas Street around 11:20 p.m. on Aug, 18.
The video went viral and helped to propel Aurora into the national media and the presidential election. Former President Donald Trump and others pointed to it as evidence that the Venezuelan prison gang Tren de Aragua controls parts of the city. City officials and police have forcefully rejected such claims, though they acknowledge the gang has a presence.
On Sept. 12, police filed arrest warrants for the three men on felony charges of first-degree burglary and menacing with a firearm. One man, Anderson Zambrano-Pacheco, 25, is in custody. Two others, Niefred Jose Serpa-Acosta, 20, and Naudi Lopez-Frenandez, 21, are wanted.
The men knocked on the doors of two apartments, forcing their way in and threatening the residents with their guns, police said. There was a fatal shooting outside the building shortly afterward, which remains unsolved.
But police said they haven’t yet “connected” any of the men to a specific criminal organization. Police officials said that verifying gang connections, especially with a foreign criminal organization like Tren de Aragua, is difficult.
“This is not an immigration issue. It’s a crime issue,” said Aurora Police Chief Todd Chamberlain. “We are not overtaken by Venezuelan gangs, Tren de Aragua or any other gang.”
The video was captured at a complex known as the Edge at Lowry.
Shortly after the Aug. 18 video was recorded, police responded to a report of a shooting at the building. One person, 25-year-old Oswaldo Jose Dabion Araujo, was killed. Police believe the video and the shooting are related, but the investigation is ongoing.
The other three men in the apartment hallway video haven’t yet been identified. They are the focus of a “large-scale, multi-jurisdictional operation known as ‘Safe Haven,’” police said. Police later found one firearm that matches the video — a scoped rifle that was hidden in an apartment’s oven.
Police affidavits for the arrest warrants weren't immediately available.
Edge at Lowry is one of several buildings where landlord CBZ Management has alleged an out-of-control gang takeover. However, city officials say CBZ has failed to care for its properties and allowed them to fall into disarray long before the arrival of hundreds of Venezuelan immigrants.
- Need a quick explainer? See our 5-minute read on Tren de Aragua in Aurora
Chamberlain, who was recently appointed, pushed back on the idea that Tren de Aragua has taken over the apartment building, saying he has not seen tenants forced to pay rent to gang members. Police have, however, acknowledged complaints of rent theft at three affected buildings. The buildings’ managers have claimed that gang members are stealing rent money and threatening management staff.
Last month, Aurora police announced that they had identified 10 other men with possible connections to Tren de Aragua, pressing charges that included domestic violence, threats and assault, including of a building owner. Those earlier arrests were related to crimes at the apartment buildings and around the metro.
Police would not confirm how the department identified those 10 men as members of Tren de Aragua.
Chamberlain said that Aurora police will continue looking into gang affiliations “to help address the spread of crime.” He said the response to crime concerns would require not just police, but also city government, the property managers, youth services and others. Aurora police have offered to put officers in the buildings, he said.
“We are trying to play catchup over the last two years,” Chamberlain said.
Residents of the buildings are caught in the middle. Dozens have rejected the claims of gang control, and they say they’ve faced threats and racist rhetoric because of the national attention.
Researchers have repeatedly debunked the idea that immigrants — whether or not they are documented — commit crimes at higher rates than native-born Americans. Other research has found no connection between the number of undocumented residents in a community and its crime rates.
"This is a focus on criminal behavior," Chamberlain said. "Not a focus on immigration status."
