The landlord of the Aurora apartment complex that has been at the center of the violent Venezuelan gang takeover “controversy” has agreed to sell the property.
That’s according to Fox News, which cited records from the Denver Gazette to report that Nome Partners has reached an agreement with Colorado officials, who will drop dozens of charges against Aspen Grove Apartments “for failing to maintain the property.”
The apartment complex was shut down last month after officials cited “a string of health and safety issues that included rodent infestations, sewage backups and trash pileups, water leaks and a lack of electricity,” the newspaper reported — this resulted in roughly 300 people being evicted.
The landlord, Zev Baumgarten, also owns the apartment complex featured in a viral video where members of the Tren de Aragua migrant gang are seen busting down a door. That property was also involved in the charges.
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The agreement states that in exchange for dropping charges, Baumgarten agreed to waive his right to a speedy trial and Nome Partners LLC agreed to sell or lease the property, and, among other things, pay up to $60,000 of the costs to clean up and secure the complex, 9News reported.
Baumgarten’s company also blamed the TdA gang takeover for causing the Aspen Grove apartments to deteriorate into unlivable conditions.
Aurora officials, including the police department, have consistently downplayed the “hysteria” over the involvement of the violent Venezuelan gang, but an investor told the Denver Post that police knew about the gang problem for almost a year.
The investor said in a letter obtained by the Denver Gazette that the problem had gotten so out of control that they reached out to local officials for help, saying TdA gang members had “forcibly taken control” of the apartment complex.
The request by the landlord to hire off-duty police officers to provide security was reportedly rejected by the Aurora Police Department.
“He was told we didn’t have the staffing to provide adequate security at all his properties,” Joe Moylan, an Aurora police spokesperson told the Gazette in a statement.
Interim Aurora Police Chief Heather Morris downplayed the gang’s involvement in a Facebook video.
“We’ve been talking to the residents here and learning from them to find out what exactly is going on, and there’s definitely a different picture,” Morris said. “I’m not saying that there’s not gang members that don’t live in this community.”
Fox News reported federal officials “believe TdA is operating in the metro Denver area and terrorizing several apartment complexes around the city and neighboring suburbs.
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Tom Tillison grew up in Maryland before moving to Central Florida as a young teen. It is in the Sunshine State that he honed both his passion for politics and his writing skills. Tillison also contributes to BizPac Review.
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