Suspected members of the Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua (TdA) kidnapped and tortured a man and a woman inside an apartment complex in Aurora, Colorado, according to the city’s police chief, Todd Chamberlain. Chamberlain said the suspects put the victims, both immigrants from Venezuela, into a separate unit while they burglarized their home.

“The victims were held against their will,” Chamberlain said. “They were actually bound, both the male and the female; they were pistol-whipped, they were beat, they were victimized, they were terrorized.”

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The victims convinced the perpetrators to release them by promising they would not contact the police. However, once they reached safety, they informed authorities about the ordeal.

When police arrived at the apartment complex, they discovered 15 individuals who they believe connect to the kidnapping and torture plot. Authorities arrested them all and are working with Homeland Security and Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to identify them.

Gov. Polis responds

Colorado Gov. Jared Polis responded to the situation, issuing a statement to ABC Denver praising the Aurora Police Department. He noted that the state had added staff and resources to the task force investigating Tren de Aragua’s links to the city after meetings with federal officials this past summer.

Polis also called for additional public safety investments in the upcoming legislative session to combat crime. He urged lawmakers to approve necessary funding to make Colorado safer.

City of Aurora blames apartment complex management

Aurora’s city officials also provided a statement to ABC Denver. They placed blame on CBZ Management, the company that owns the Edge of Lowry Apartments.

The statement said in part that the company’s “chosen absence and abject neglect of their own properties for years, and their pattern of ignoring and rejecting the city’s various offers to expedite a resolution in recent months, have, in part, created an environment that has allowed criminal activity to flourish time and again irrespective of who is committing the crimes.”

CBZ Management had claimed months earlier that members of Tren de Aragua were preventing their employees from making necessary repairs at the buildings. They say it created a dangerous and hostile environment. A spokesperson for CBZ argued that the city allowed Tren de Aragua to take over the apartment complex.

However, critics of the management company say the documented issues at its apartment complexes go back to at least 2020, long before any alleged presence of Tren de Aragua.

Earlier this month, CBZ and the City of Aurora agreed to close the Edge of Lowry Apartments. It remains unclear when that closure will occur.

Chamberlain confirmed that the investigation into the kidnapping and torture is ongoing.