Attack on 2 apparent Venezuelan migrants in Denver area seems gang-related, police chief says
DENVER — More than a dozen people tied up, pistol-whipped and terrorized a man and a woman at a crime-ridden apartment complex in suburban Denver, the city’s police chief said Tuesday, adding that it appeared to be a gang-related attack on two Venezuelan immigrants.
Police said about 13 to 15 armed people confronted the man and woman at their apartment in a complex that was the scene of a viral video that now led President-elect Donald Trump to claim that Aurora had been taken over by a Venezuelan gang.
The man, who was also stabbed during the roughly five-hour ordeal that began Monday night, is expected to survive, Aurora Police Chief Todd Chamberlain said. He said that all those involved are most likely from Venezuela and that there is “a high presumption” that those responsible have ties to the Tren the Aragua Gang.
The gang, which started in a notoriously lawless Venezuelan prison, has expanded as more than 8 million desperate Venezuelans have fled economic turmoil at home.
Based on how the home invasion unfolded, Chamberlain said, he was convinced it was gang related.
“Something is seriously wrong and we’re going to try to solve it as quickly as possible, and that’s what happened,” he said of crime at the complex, noting a decrease in police calls this month.
Chamberlain said the complex is located in one of the city’s neighborhoods with crime problems. However, he said the sprawling city of 400,000 east of Denver is not plagued by gangs.
The victims were taken against their will to another apartment in the six-building complex while their apartment was burglarized, Chamberlain said. They were released early Wednesday after promising not to call police, but they contacted authorities anyway after driving to a friend’s house, Chamberlain said. He praised them for their courage.
Police said fourteen people have been arrested as they investigate what happened, but no arrests have yet been made.
Both victims were taken to hospitals, he said, but authorities had no immediate update on their conditions Tuesday.
Chamberlain said police received assistance from federal authorities, including Immigration and Customs Enforcement, to identify those in police custody.
City officials have gone to court to have most of the complex closed because it is said to be a criminal problem. They claim that the owner’s long-term neglect of the buildings has allowed crime to flourish. They expect five of the buildings will close early next year after the property’s owner, New York-based CBZ Management, did not attempt to challenge the action.
The company claims it cannot maintain the complex because gangs have taken over. A call seeking comment was not immediately returned. On
Chamberlain said the complex where many Venezuelan immigrants ended up was poorly managed. But he also faulted the federal government for not doing more to respond to the wave of immigrants from the country who have ended up in cities like Aurora.
“We are now, like many other cities in this country, picking up the pieces of an incredibly bad system that existed,” he said.