Owner of building taken over by Venezuelan gangs in Aurora reaches deal with city to sell or lease the complex

The owner of the Aurora (Colorado) apartment building reached an agreement with city authorities to sell or lease the complex. The event comes after neighbors denounced the takeover of the building by gangs, predominately Venezuelan.

"Under an agreement negotiated between the city and Nome Partners, officials agreed to drop dozens of charges against Zev Baumgarten for failing to maintain the property at 1568 Nome St. in Aurora, according to documents obtained under the Colorado Open Records Act (CORA)," explained Gazette.

In that regard, it was learned that 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 complex's cleaning and security costs.

Gazette detailed that, according to court documents, Baumgarten also was charged with similar violations for his Edge of Lowry complex at 1258 Dallas St, from which a video was released a few days ago of armed people taking over the apartments.

Aurora Mayor Mike Coffman had warned that if Baumgarten did not accept the settlement and take action to address the situation the city would be forced to close both apartment complexes as a last resort.

The development comes at a time when Colorado is implementing measures to attack the criminal gang problem.

In August, state authorities announced the creation of a group aimed at identifying and arresting members of the feared Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua. The strategy will be done in alliance with federal authorities and was initiated due to suspicions that the criminal group has been operating in the Denver metro area for months.

"Since the beginning of the month, police departments in Colorado's main cities have been on alert for possible threats against uniformed officers in that state by the international criminal organization that has begun to gain influence in the United States," reported EFE.