A Colorado landlord has agreed to sell an apartment complex because it was taken over by the violent Venezuelan prison gang Tren de Aragua.
According to the New York Post, landlord Zev Baumgarten had been fighting with Aurora, Colorado leadership after the city accused him of allowing Aspen Grove apartments to become a “trash-ridden, gang-infested hellhole.”
Landlord forced to sell Colorado apartment complex after it was taken over by Venezuelan migrant gang Tren de Aragua https://t.co/PmKbyuJ6iE pic.twitter.com/UyqAjYyCFP
— New York Post (@nypost) September 8, 2024
Baumgarten also owns the property where a viral video showing members of the gang breaking into an apartment unit.
🚨#BREAKING: An armed gang of illegal immigrants from Venezuela has reportedly taken full control of an apartment complex and parts of the town of Aurora⁰
— R A W S A L E R T S (@rawsalerts) August 28, 2024
📌#Aurora | #Colorado
New footage by @vicentearenastv reveals an armed gang at a complex in Aurora, Colorado. Aurora… pic.twitter.com/3xGWP5Yhof
Now, Baumgarten’s company has now agreed to sell, lease, or find some “similar disposition” for the complex. The complex was closed in August, reportedly displacing 300 residents. His company must pay to clean up the site (via NYP):
In June, attorneys for the landlords had sent letters begging police and local officials for help, claiming Tren de Aragua had “forcibly taken control” of Aspen Grove. The city finally deemed the site a “criminal nuisance” and evicted the residents.
Last month, a video surfaced at a separate apartment complex showed a gun-toting crew breaking into a unit.
That’s when Baumgarten found himself facing more than 80 charges for building code violations, ranging from vermin infestations to power outages.
Though he puts the blame on gangs, prosecutors pointed out that a second Baumgarten-owned complex, Fitzsimons Place, which was also shuttered in August, had code violations dating back to 2020, according to local publication Westword.
That property, too, had been overrun by migrant gang members, as has a third site in Aurora, a suburb of Denver that opposed its neighbor’s “sanctuary city” policy that has allowed more than 42,000 migrants to enter the city.
Townhall previously reported how the gang had taken over apartment complexes in Aurora, terrorizing the residents.
Despite this, Democrat Gov. Jared Polis called the anger and fear that’s arisen from this situation “imagination.”
Polis’ press office offered the “snarky” statement in response to the New York Post’s reporting on the issue.
“The Governor has already let the Mayor know that the State is ready to support the local police department with assistance from state troopers and the Colorado Bureau of Investigation if needed,” Shelby Wieman, a spokesperson for the Democratic governor, told The Post.
“But, according to police intelligence this purported invasion is largely a feature of Danielle Jurinsky’s imagination,” Wieman added. Jurinsky is a member of the Aurora City Council and has sounded the alarm on the illegal immigration crisis impacting the community.