West
Aurora police react to alleged Venezuelan gang presence at apartments: 'Have not taken over'
Aurora police shared an update after video surfaced allegedly showing heavily armed Venezuelan migrant gang members trying to break into an apartment in Colorado.
In a video from a news conference posted to the department’s official X account late Friday evening, Aurora Police Department interim Chief Heather Morris said “gang members have not taken over” the apartment complex.
“I’m not saying that there’s not gang members that don’t live in this community,” she said. “But what we’re learning out here is that gang members have not taken over this complex.”
Several men armed with handguns and one with a scoped rifle were caught on disturbing doorbell camera footage busting through the door of an apartment in The Edge at Lowry complex for unknown reasons.
MIGRANT GANG TAKING OVER COLORADO APARTMENT COMPLEX ‘NOT AN ISOLATED OCCURRENCE,’ FORMER RESIDENT SAYS
Aurora Police Department Interim Chief Heather Morris gave an update late Friday on the situation at The Edge at Lowry apartments and said “gang members have not taken over” the complex. (Council member Danielle Jurinsky/Aurora Police Department)
The group appears to be Tren de Aragua, or TdA, a transnational gang based in Venezuela. The gang, with reportedly 5,000 members, has a motto of “real until death,” or “real hasta la muerte.”
“We are aware that components of TdA are operating in Aurora. APD has been increasingly collecting evidence to show the gang is connected to crimes in the area,” the Aurora Police Department said in a statement on X.
“However, as we have said previously and as the DEA similarly stated, it would be improper at this time for the city and APD to make any conclusory statements about specific incidents or provide details about law enforcement strategy and operations.”
AFTER VIDEO OF ARMED VENEZUELAN GANG SHARED BY LOCAL OFFICIAL GOES VIRAL, COLORADO CITY TAKES ACTION
Alleged members of the Tren de Aragua gang have overtaken an apartment building in Aurora, Colorado, charging rent in exchange for “protection,’” according to a resident. (Edward Romero/ Council member Danielle Jurinsky)
The department added that based on its initial investigative work, it believes reports of TdA influence in Aurora are isolated.
TdA is linked to over 100 crimes across the nation, according to reporting from the New York Post.
The Aurora Police Department confirmed to Fox News Digital TdA leader “Cookie Monster” is in custody as part of a July 28 shooting investigation.
“We urge all community members, including members of our migrant communities, to please report crimes committed against them to their local law enforcement agencies and not remain silent victims,” the statement continued.
Aurora Mayor Mike Coffman announced Friday the city is starting the process of clearing the apartment buildings where transnational armed gang TdA has taken over.
FORMER COLORADO APARTMENT RESIDENT SAYS GOV. POLIS ‘WOULDN’T LAST FIVE MINUTES’ AGAINST ARMED GANGS
The apartment building has been overrun by alleged gang members, including changing the locks, according to one resident. (Council member Danielle Jurinsky)
In a statement posted to Facebook, Coffman said “the Aurora City Attorney’s Office is preparing court documents to request an emergency court order to clear the apartment buildings where Venezuelan gang activity has been occurring by declaring the properties a ‘Criminal Nuisance.’
“This will require a municipal judge to issue the order with the goal of getting these properties back under the control of the property owners. In the meantime, the law enforcement task force set up to disrupt and arrest Venezuelan gang members in these buildings will continue its operation. I strongly believe that the best course of action is to shut these building[s] down and make sure that this never happens again.”
Officials said crime victims can report crimes anonymously by calling Metro Denver Crime Stoppers at 720-913-7867.
The Aurora Police Department did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment.
Fox News’ Jasmine Baehr and Madeline Coggins contributed to this report.
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Denver, CO
Trammell Crow, PCCP secure Denver area’s largest industrial lease in years
Trammell Crow Company and PCCP inked a massive lease deal for a suburban Denver industrial complex that just began construction.
The development giants landed an undisclosed tenant for a full building at Crossroads 25, a 76-acre industrial complex in Thornton set to encompass roughly 1.1 million square feet once complete, the Denver Business Journal reported.
At nearly 410,000 square feet, the deal marks the largest industrial lease in the Denver area since 2024.
Trammell Crow and PCCP purchased the land, at the northeast corner of Interstate 25 and E-470, from an affiliate of Omaha, Nebraska-based Noddle Companies for $18.9 million. Noddle purchased it in 2020 as part of a nearly 200-acre land acquisition for $19.5 million.
The development will eventually span 1.1 million square feet of industrial space. The first phase consists of 828,000 square feet across four buildings. The recent lease brings the four-building phase one to 49 percent leased.
CBRE’s Tyler Carner represented Noddle in the land sale.
The Denver metro’s industrial market had a direct vacancy rate of 9.3 percent in the first quarter, according to JLL. More than 4 million square feet was under construction, and absorption was negative after hefty completions last year.
The first four buildings in Crossroads 25 are expected to be delivered in the third quarter of next year. The complex is projected to be fully complete in 2030.
The previous industrial lease record in the Denver metro area was held by Georgia-based third-party logistics company BroadRange Logistics, which signed a long-term lease for more than 1.1 million square feet at the 76 Commerce Center industrial complex in Brighton. That property’s landlord, Hyde Development, filed suit against BroadRange last week, claiming the logistics firm defaulted on its leases, and Hyde is seeking more than $32 million in damages.
— Chris Malone Méndez
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Seattle, WA
Seattle Mayor Katie Wilson mayor ripped after unveiling fleet of tiny homes likened to porta-potty drug dens
Progressive Seattle Mayor Katie Wilson is being ripped for unveiling a village of tiny homes being likened to porta-potties — with no rules stopping the homeless people who move in from doing drugs.
Wilson, 43, previewed 50 of the 70-square-foot units on Sunday — while readily conceding that she failed on her promise of having half of the 1,000 planned units ready in time for the World Cup, which starts Thursday.
The tiny units — barely bigger than a portable toilet, about the size of a jail cell and equipped with just a single bed and desk — cost $16,000 each to build, with those moving in sharing toilets and other facilities staffed 24/7.
The woke mayor said the units are for homeless people suffering “complex problems related to substance abuse” or mental disorders — but without forcing them to seek help or even stay off the drugs that got them there.
“The process of recovery is really complicated and difficult, and so, we’re not demanding that people be abstinent when they enter this village,” the Democratic socialist mayor said, according to KOMO.
“The goal is to help people successfully move from homelessness toward stability and housing; that’s exactly what this site is designed to do,” she vowed, without citing evidence.
Local advocates quickly ripped the plan, with many saying it will only make drug use more widespread there, raising the risks for anyone living nearby.
Andrea Suarez, founder of the homeless outreach organization We Heart Seattle, ridiculed the mayor’s program, saying that the drug use will add to widespread crime as “the bodies are piling up.”
“Drugs aren’t free,” she told Fox News of the “deadly” drugs like “super meth and fentanyl” that “will be allowed on this property.”
“So what do people have to do to fuel their addiction? They have to porch-prowl, smash and grab, retail theft, syphon gas … prostitution,” she predicted, saying locals will have to “be on lockdown.”
“It’s very hard to get better and seek treatment when the fox is guarding the henhouse,” she said, saying that the addicts will be surrounded by dealers and fellow users. “It’s very hard to get sober when everything makes you actually more comfortable being a drug addict.”
Other critics were wary of the state the homes could fall into without rules stopping them from becoming “overdose incubators.”
“Each one of these tiny houses will turn into a tiny outhouse. Good luck cleaning that human sewer up,” one naysayer fumed on X.
Another raged: “How much you willing to bet that within a year, all those tiny homes will be torn down crack houses smelling like heroin laced urine.”
Another blasted: “Glad Katie could give drug dealers and criminals a home base for their crimes against the people of Seattle.”
“Dumb,” one critic slammed. “Now they just get to use drugs in those tiny homes. How about we get them off the drugs!!”
Wilson said an additional 25 sleeper units will be installed at the Bayside Enhanced Shelter by the end of June, with as many as 300 new pods expected citywide by summer’s end.
That still falls way short of her promise of 500 units in time for Seattle’s World Cup matches.
“Is it a failure not to have created 500 units by now? As long as there are thousands of people sleeping unsheltered on our streets, yes, we are failing,” the lefty mayor said defensively.
San Diego, CA
San Diego City Council will vote on fiscal year 2027 budget
Following a lengthy and at times combative process, the San Diego City Council will vote Tuesday on the fiscal year 2026-27 budget during a special session.
The proposed budget is based largely on Mayor Todd Gloria’s May revisal, which found additional revenue sources to help preserve some library and recreation center hours, shoreline bathrooms and “December Nights,” compared to the initial proposal.
“Even in a difficult budget year, we continued looking for ways to protect neighborhood services responsibly,” Gloria said. “My May revise restores targeted services in some of our historically underserved communities while still maintaining our focus on the fundamentals for San Diegans: keeping you safe, fixing infrastructure, reducing homelessness and building more homes.”
Gloria’s proposed additions include protecting recreation center and library hours in Council Districts 4, 8 and 9, Monday hours at Carmel Valley Library and preventing the North Clairemont Library Branch from closing, protection of staffing support for December Nights planning and operations, another $500,000 for youth drop-in centers, and allocating opioid settlement funds toward treatment and support programs through UC San Diego and the San Diego LGBT Community Center.
However, arts funding could still be gutted based on the May revise. Last week, City Council President Pro Tem Kent Lee was joined by Budget Committee Chair Henry Foster III with County Supervisor Monica Montgomery Steppe and representatives of the Prebys Foundation to announce a public- private proposal to restore San Diego’s arts funding, which would have the foundation put up $3 million for arts and culture programs slashed in the current proposed budget.
“Arts are essential to our city,” Lee said. “Music, film, artistic expression — this is what makes us human, and it’s what transforms a city into a community. Our arts programs create jobs, attract visitors and help define what it means to be a San Diegan. This is not about funding some abstract luxury, it’s about protecting one of San Diego’s greatest strengths.”
The proposal also would adopt recommendations from the city’s Independent Budget Analyst’s office to shift $6 million from San Diego’s Transient Occupancy Tax — essentially a hotel tax — to arts programs, as well as restoring $1.3 million in grants.
“Arts and culture belong in all of San Diego and this funding supports local artists, small businesses, jobs and the community spaces that keep our neighborhoods connected,” Foster said. “In District 4, the San Diego Black Arts and Culture District shows why this work matters by honoring history, creating opportunity and making sure culture isn’t forgotten. As budget chair, I truly believe this proposal is a responsible way to protect funding that matters to our residents and our local economy.”
It would cover around $10.35 million of the nearly $12 million cut under the proposed budget as the city looks to tighten its belt around a $118 million structural budget deficit.
“Our investment is intended to encourage the city to restore arts funding, honor the competitive grants process already underway and strengthen regional support for arts and culture,” said Grant Oliphant, CEO and president of the Prebys Foundation. “For decades, San Diego’s artists and cultural organizations have been promised a reliable source of public funding. It is time to deliver on that promise, and today marks an important step forward.”
Gloria said new sources of revenue to cover the non-art additions include an increase in tourism occupancy tax — charged to those who stay in the city’s hotels — and a $4.3 million boost to revenue by recovering rent from the city’s golf courses.
“Every private golf course in San Diego pays rent for the land it sits on,” he said. “Our public courses sit on public land owned by the people of San Diego. The new legal guidance allows us to properly account for the value of that land, and to make sure the public benefits when the courses succeed.”
George Duardo, president of the San Diego City Firefighters, said some cuts slated for the San Diego Fire-Rescue Department were worrying — such as bomb squad staffing, the community resource officer, the recruitment and retention officer, fire information officer position and fire academy instructor.
“While (it’s) good the city found additional money in the budget, it is unfortunate that it wasn’t directed to reverse the proposed cuts to Fire- Rescue staffing and operations,” he said. “We are hopeful the council and mayor can truly make public safety a priority and not compromise fire staffing and response times via the cuts on the table.”
Council members will also have to weigh significant decisions made Monday evening, when the council voted unanimously to end paid parking at Balboa Park by the end of the year and reduce trash fees for single-family homes.
Paid parking will end on Dec. 31 and the trash fees will be reduced to $38.75 starting next year for the “typical” 95-gallon bin bundle — a number adjusted for inflation from the initial proposal in 2021. Those using 65-
or 35-gallon bins will pay “proportionally less.” That amount will increase to $39.91 on July 1, 2028.
The decisions Monday mean the city must find the lost revenue — or slash existing services — from somewhere else. A possible reduction of services includes the elimination of bulky item pickup and delay of an electric vehicle rollout.
“Today’s City Council action reflects a compromise reached to protect the city from prolonged litigation and the risk of even deeper financial consequences that could have resulted in far more significant cuts to core services,” Gloria said.
“Faced with the potential total loss of more than $150 million and the prospect of additional cuts to police, fire protection, libraries, parks, and neighborhood services, I supported a compromise that helps protect the city’s financial stability and allows us to avoid a much more damaging outcome.”
The city will immediately stop selling yearly passes for the parking, will stop selling quarterly passes on Sept. 30 and monthly passes by Nov. 30. Those who have already purchased a yearly pass will get a prorated refund from the city.
Single-family refuse pickup is funded by the city’s general fund, which all residents pay into through property tax — whether they rent or own a single-family home, a condominium or an apartment. The city takes away 300,000 tons of trash and 150,000 tons of recycling, compostables and yard waste annually.
The San Diego City Council will convene at 1 p.m. Tuesday to discuss and vote on the budget.
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