Gangs’ used coercion to control troubled Aurora complex: October 2023 survey

AURORA, Colo. – Gang members had used “threats and coercion to exert control” at a troubled apartment complex on Nome Street in Aurora, which is now the center of the city’s national attention, according to a 2023 security study that listed gang activity as one of many problems there.

The Fitzsimons Place apartments at 1568 Nome Street had become a “badge of honor” for gang members who were “buoyed by the reputation” of living there, the investigation said, with some telling the Aurora officer who conducted the report that “if you can survive in these apartments, then you are ‘hard’.”

The revelations were part of a Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design (CPTED) study carried out in October 2023, which also identified rising crime, rampant drug use and a range of safety and quality of life issues at the complex. CPTED surveys provide entities with a suggested path to reducing crime through natural security measures.

Fitzsimons Place, also known as Aspen Grove, has since been closed due to a series of code violations.

The investigation, addressed to CBZ management owner Zev Baumgarten, serves as evidence that the landlord was warned of a growing gang presence months before CBZ blamed conditions at a series of dilapidated complexes for an alleged gang takeover.

Police had implemented a “three-car response” at Fitzsimons Place – meaning officers cannot respond to a call until three cars are available – amid a crime spike at the complex, including assaults on officers and damage to various police vehicles. The research reports a 59% increase in reports of general violations and a 41% increase in calls for help between 2022 and 2023.

The increase in crime came because “gangs in the area (had) moved into the apartments and (used) threats and coercion to take control of the apartments,” according to the officer who wrote the report. “All of this has been documented in both the calls to police and my own personal experiences,” he wrote.

In one case, the families of gang members allegedly took photos of residents after a shooting in the apartments. They then “used those photos to blackmail them and told them that if they talked to the police, not only would they be harmed, but their families in Venezuela would be harmed.”

The investigation does not mention the Venezuelan prison gang Tren de Aragua (TdA) by name, but echoes claims made in internal APD emails made public last week on social media by Aurora Councilmember Danielle Jurinsky which were apparently related to the department’s TdA investigation.

Denver7 has requested to independently obtain documents related to Tren de Aragua from the City of Aurora.

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Alleged gang operations were one of several issues raised in the CPTED investigation.

The lobby of the apartment complex was littered with drug paraphernalia and smelled of urine and garbage, the report said, also citing unlocked doors, poor lighting and a lack of amenities as problems for residents.

Fitzsimons Place, the study said, had fallen into disrepair as other nearby complexes had developed due to increasing demand fueled by the neighboring University of Colorado Hospital.

The study offered several recommendations for improvement that it said would be “reasonably easy to achieve.” The recommendations include improved lighting and updated locking mechanisms for doors and gates, as well as the addition of a children’s play area and improved gathering areas to promote a sense of community among residents. It also recommends things like fencing around the complex and dumpsters to make better use of the parking lot.

Residents of the complex complained to Denver7 about the poor living conditions in March 2023. Fitzsimons Place was deemed a criminal nuisance in September 2023. In August 2024, the city became Aurora deemed the complex “unsuitable” and closed it.

The city plans to close other CBZ properties suspended earlier this month after it appointed a caretaker for the buildings.

Today, a year after the CPTED study was conducted, a contentious back-and-forth rages between the property manager and the city. CBZ has used a newly created social media account to renew claims of a TdA takeover, attracting the attention of Elon Musk, among others.

As the city continues to dispute claims of a gang takeover, Jurinsky has released a series of photos, videos and email exchanges that she says prove the problem is worse than city officials have been led to believe.

Meanwhile, Aurora finds itself at the center of the national debate over immigration, with Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump drawing attention to the city during the debate and later promising a nationwide “Operation Aurora” at a rally in Colorado.

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