Colorado law firm report claims Venezuelan gang has "stranglehold" on apartments, takeover began in 2023

A Denver law firm, hired to look into an alleged gang takeover of an Aurora apartment building, says they found the Venezuelan Tren de Aragua gang began taking over the Whispering Pines Apartments in late 2023. Since then, the gang has engaged in violent assaults, threats of murder, extortion, strongarm tactics, and child prostitution as they have exerted a "stranglehold" on the Aurora apartment complex. That's according to a letter sent to Aurora Mayor Mike Coffman, Aurora City Manager Jason Batchelor, and the interim police chief that was obtained by CBS News Colorado.

Each page of the nine-page report was labeled "CONFIDENTIAL TREATMENT REQUESTED." The Perkins Coie law firm shared its findings on Aug. 9 with Aurora's top administrators. 

"The evidence we have reviewed indicates that gang members are engaging in flagrant trespass violations, assaults and battery, human trafficking and sexual abuse of minors, unlawful firearms possession, extortion, and other criminal activities, often targeting vulnerable Venezuelan and other immigrant populations," wrote T. Markus Funk, a former U.S. Attorney. 

Funk did not respond to emails and phone calls from CBS News Colorado and a second associate at the law firm also did not respond to inquiries from CBS News Colorado.

The firm says it represents the lender for Whispering Pines Apartments, 1357 Helena Street, one of several  Aurora apartment buildings allegedly controlled by the Tren de Aragua gang. The law firm says it interviewed witnesses and reviewed video from the Whispering Pines for its investigation.

The letter marks the first time specific details and incidents have been revealed about how the gang allegedly took over the apartments and how they have been operating.

"Tren de Aragua has threatened to kill (and, in certain instances, has apparently actively attempted to kill) members of Whispering Pines management..." according to the report.

Investigators interviewed the property manager who had 15 years of experience in the industry. The property manager said, "He had never seen anything remotely like the Tren de Aragua takeover of Whispering Pines in his entire career." Whispering Pines consists of 54 apartments with rent ranging from $1450 to $2000 per month. According to the report, tenants are generally working-class Hispanic families with children.

The property manager told the law firm that he started his job in January 2024, but that TdA had already been establishing a presence at the apartments before his employment. In November 2023, the report states a consultant for the property management company was "so severely beaten and stomped by gang members that he had to go to the hospital."  The report says the beating was unprovoked.

"The gang activity at Whispering Pines escalated in 2024," according to the document obtained by CBS News Colorado. In April 2024, a housekeeper called the property manager "informing him that two individuals at the property went into an apartment, came out with large firearms, and were coming to kill him (the property manager)." The individuals were apparently past due on rent.

The property manager said, "that the two individuals were arrested as they were coming to kill him." The report says the men, who were armed with "large firearms," were gang members.

The property manager went on to say that "gang members allegedly stabbed a Whispering Pines resident for refusing to pay "rent" to the gang. Since then, the property has recorded footage of gang members knocking on doors and, without authorization or any other justification, attempting to collect rent from the tenants of Whispering Pines..."

In June, the report says suspected gang members approached the property manager and offered to help the manager "if he agreed to pay the gang 50% of everything the property management company collected in rent."

The investigators who authored the report called this an "organized crime tactic." They said gang members then said they were taking over vacant units at Whispering Pines and would start collecting rent from tenants. "This is our business plan," one gang member told a housekeeper. "If he (property manager) doesn't like it, we'll fill him with bullets."

Following that incident, the report says video footage shows TdA gang members violently breaking into vacant apartments, kicking doors open, and moving Venezuelan immigrants into the empty apartments. 

"This conduct's brazen and public nature further exhibits the suspected gang members' sense of comfort and control consistent with their taking over the property and not fearing the law enforcement of the property management." Investigators concluded that gang members have been extorting "rents" from residents they moved into vacant units.

"The property manager further shared that TdA now uses the formally vacant units to host "parties" where they "serve drugs and child prostitution." The property manager apparently told the law firm investigators that "minors are a good source of money."

CBS News Colorado also obtained internal Aurora Police documents from June that appear to support some of the law firm's conclusions.

An officer reported responding to a call from a housecleaner at Whispering Pines. He said she told police she "was threatened that she needed to give up the keys to the vacant apartments at the Whispering Pine Apartments so that a group of Venezuelans could move people into the Whispering Pine Apartments." The officer reported, "Suspects left but not before warning her to comply or else they would kill her or her family." The Aurora officer wrote to fellow officers, "I would highly recommend you guys take 2-3 friends with you when responding to any calls there."

Late Wednesday afternoon, a City of Aurora spokesperson confirmed they had received the letter and "immediately included it in its ongoing investigative work". The City spokesperson said Aurora Police have been and will continue to aggressively investigate and pursue any criminal activity reported on or related to the Aurora apartment buildings that have been at the center of this controversy. "The information and claims in the letter underscore why APD(and other law enforcement agencies) formed a special task force to investigate violent crime impacting migrants and other communities in the Denver metro area", wrote the city spokesperson.