Sixteen alleged Venezuelan immigrants accused of taking part in the brutal beating of two people at a notorious Aurora apartment complex are now in the custody of the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
The Edge apartment complex, at East 12th Avenue and Dallas Street, has drawn national attention due to a viral video, gang involvement, crime and negligence from the property management company.
On Wednesday, ICE announced the detention of 16 people who they say are suspects in the crime. According to ICE, the individuals were taken into custody during an enforcement operation at the apartment complex in Aurora.
“All those detained are Venezuelan nationals in the U.S. without authorization. They are suspected of being members or associates of the Venezuelan gang Tren De Aragua,” an ICE spokesperson said in a statement. “They will remain in ICE custody pending removal proceedings or hearings before an immigration judge.”
The TdA gang has been the focus of anti-immigrant politics in Aurora, and across the country, culminating in a Donald Trump rally in Aurora in October and repeated threats of mass deportation, starting in Aurora.
Authorities also released three other people who were originally suspected in the crime, according to Aurora police spokesperson Joe Moylan.
"Those people 'had nothing to do with the incident,'” Moylan said.
Police Chief Todd Chamberlain on Tuesday described the assault as “torture,” detailing how a man and woman, both believed to be Venezuelan immigrants, were kidnapped from their apartment around 9 p.m. Monday and taken to a vacant unit in the complex.
“They were pistol-whipped, beaten and one of the victims was stabbed,” Chamberlain said during a press conference. “For me, that falls in the category of torture.”
The attack reportedly lasted until about 2 a.m. Dec. 17, when the victims persuaded their assailants they would not contact authorities. They were released and sought help from friends, who called the police. Both victims sustained non-life-threatening injuries and are receiving medical care.
Chamberlain commended the couple for their bravery in reporting the attack despite the risks. “The fact that they stepped forward shows an incredible amount of courage,” he said.
Aurora police initially detained 14 individuals but later searched another apartment linked to the case, leading to the detention of five additional suspects, according to Moylan. He said investigators are working to identify those directly involved in the attack.
“We developed information late yesterday afternoon about another apartment associated with the crime and/or our suspects,” Moylan said. “We served a search warrant on that additional apartment and located and detained about 5 p.m. yesterday five additional suspects, which brought our number of detained persons to 19.”
As of Wednesday, 16 detainees remain in custody as detectives continue interviews and gather evidence. Moylan said that no arrests have been made yet, and police plan to provide further updates later this week.
“We served a total of four search warrants on individual apartments and searched a fifth apartment with the occupants’ consent,” Moylan said. “The five apartments we searched were at three of the six buildings on the property.”
Related: Two suspects in Aurora’s viral ‘Tren de Aragua’ video arrested by feds in New York City
While Chamberlain said that identifying affiliations with TdA or other gangs is challenging due to the lack of clear markers, he acknowledged that the case underscores broader concerns about gang-related violence in the area.
The Edge at Lowry complex has been a focal point of controversy, with accusations of crime and mismanagement fueling debates about immigration and public safety. Chamberlain emphasized that Aurora police are committed to protecting all residents, including immigrants, and urged victims of crime to come forward without fear of deportation or retaliation.
Chamberlain said police are offering protection for the victims now and going forward as the case unfolds.
While the investigation is just underway, Chamberlain said it appeared the couple were attacked and robbed by other immigrants, who were likely gang members.
Police restricted residents’ movements while they searched specific units during the initial investigation.
The Edge at Lowry garners national attention
The apartment complex has long been plagued by a multitude of crime and health and safety problems, Chamberlain said Dec. 17. Despite the strict measures taken during the police search and securing of the complex, Chamberlain emphasized the importance of immigrants feeling safe to report crimes without fear of deportation or retaliation.
Chamberlain and other police officials have repeatedly said immigrants are easy targets for criminals because they generally will not report crime to police for fear of deportation or further abuse by police.
He, and other city officials, have repeatedly placed blame on apartment complex owners CBZ for mismanagement that created a magnet for crime and abuse of tenants.
City officials say owners allowed the building to become riddled with vermin, garbage and other health and safety issues.
“I’ve been there. It’s squalor,” Chamberlain said. “There’s nobody in this room that would live like that right now.”
Chamberlain also criticized federal and other government officials for essentially allowing thousands of immigrants to flood the community with little or no resources to care for themselves, easily becoming victims to all kinds of scams, crime and misfortune.
“We’re talking about possibly 40,000 Venezuelans, many of whom were brought into the City of Aurora and dropped into it,” Chamberlain said. “You’re basically talking about a small city that was dropped into a large city.”
And the small city brought big-city crime problems with it, he said.
The apartment complex was the site of a shooting and now infamous viral video showing armed men, alleged to be Venezuelan gang members, entering an apartment. Minutes after the security video was taken, a fatal shooting outside the complex occurred.
Most recently, residents in the buildings, many of whom are Venezuelan immigrants, are facing eviction as the buildings are in jeopardy of being shuttered depending on the outcome of an agreement between the City of Aurora and CBZ.
The proceedings will continue in January, which could result in a 30-day notice to leave. City officials have threatened to close the building, a move they did similarly in a nearby apartment complex facing similar issues, and owned, also, by CBZ.
Chamberlain said that despite the most recent criminal development, police will continue focusing additional resources on the building and the area as the future of the complex unfolds.
He repeatedly said that although the incident was horrific, the area has been plagued by crime problems for many years, and that, at the same time, the “pockets” of problems aren’t indicative of the neighborhoods surrounding the buildings.
Responding to allegations made by some city council members, and even President-Elect Donald Trump, that the Venezuelan gangs are especially dangerous and adding a new element of crisis to the area, Chamberlain pushed back.
“This is not an example that Aurora is a gang-infested, drug-infested, crime-infested city,” the apartment building and the immediate neighborhood are “hot spots,” similar to places in other large cities.
“As Chief Chamberlain said, Aurora, like every other major city across the country, must tackle crime – especially concentrated pockets of crime – aggressively,” Mayor Mike Coffman said in a statement. “But as I have said repeatedly, specific bad actors and problematic properties do not reflect on this city as a whole.”
Some local and state officials have accused police and other city officials of purposely downplaying the severity of the issue, even saying Venezuelan gang problems in the area aren’t an issue.
“I think the mere fact that you’re here, the mere fact that we’re talking about a location that I don’t know how many months ago, seven months ago, eight months ago, or whatever was on national news, and we’re still talking about the same subject, it is 100% an issue,” he said. “Whether it’s TDA, whether it’s rolling 60s or any other gang that’s around here. That’s the problem. The fact that there’s people that are being hurt and victimized.”
After the police chief statement, Councilmember Danielle Jurinsky told reporters that she’s now pleased with the actions of the police department and Chief Chamberlain. Previously harshly critical of police administration, she said Chamberlain, who joined the force in August, is more transparent about what police are doing and more aggressive in enforcement.
Chamberlain said police are prepared to lean into the northwest Aurora issue, first arresting anyone they deem was responsible for this attack.
“We are not shying away from the problem,” he said. “We are owning the problem, and we are going to fix the problem.”
City officials also laid blame on the owners of the Edge at Lowry complex, saying mismanagement allowed for a variety of criminal and safety issues to fester.
The attack “underscores, with painful clarity, why the city has been aggressively leading criminal and civil legal actions against the private property owners, managers and/or “investors” of CBZ Management and their various LLCs,” city spokesperson Ryan Luby said in a statement. “Their chosen absence and abject neglect of their own properties for years, and their pattern of ignoring and rejecting the city’s various offers to expedite a resolution in recent months, have, in part, created an environment that has allowed criminal activity to flourish time and again irrespective of who is committing the crimes.”
