Nine suspects involved in a kidnapping and home invasion likely related to Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua in a northwest Aurora apartment complex last month were formally charged last week, the Aurora Police Department announced Monday. 

In a late December news conference, Aurora Police Chief Todd Chamberlain provided details of the alleged home invasion, torturing and kidnapping of two people — which happened around 2:30 a.m. on Dec. 17 — and began with a cellphone video showing two women fighting. 

That video, taken at The Edge at Lowry Apartments, the police later said, included “a number of other individuals in and around that apartment complex who were involved in criminal activity.”

The woman who took and shared the video was one of two victims of the kidnapping, Chamberlain said. The suspects wanted the phone so they could delete the video.

In the process, the police chief said, the suspects robbed and assaulted the victims, entered their apartment and stole valuables. They also forced the victims to give them banking information and other financial details, he said.

Of the 19 people originally detained following the incident, three were released and 16 were placed in ICE custody.

Chamberlain confirmed that some of the people arrested have been identified as Tren de Aragua members, although he did not say how many of them were alleged TdA members.

Aurora police on Monday announced in a news release that formal charges have been filed against nine of the suspects, with charges including second-degree kidnapping, first-degree assault, aggravated robbery, second-degree burglary, extortion and menacing, according to the press release. 

Police also have arrest warrants for three additional suspects who are not yet in custody. The additional seven suspects in ICE custody are still under investigation for involvement in the incident, according to the release.

Those charged in Arapahoe District Court are as follows.

• Andres Alexander Liendo-Padilla, 26
• Javier Alexander Alvarado Parada, 24
• Jesus Alberto Alejos Escalona, 22
• Junior Reyes-Barrios, 28
• Barbara Silve Medina-Arcaya, 29
• Donarkys Teresa Suarez-Quesada, 31
• Luigi Javier Soto-Sucre, 26
• Niefred Jose Serpa-Acosta, 20
• Jengrinso Elias Loreto-Petit, 26

Serpa-Acosta was also previously wanted on an active felony warrant for first-degree burglary and menacing with a deadly weapon following an Aug. 18 security camera video showing he and five other armed men knocking on doors at The Edge at Lowry about 10 minutes before a fatal shooting, according to the release. 

By Oct. 2, Operation Safe Haven investigators identified and obtained arrest warrants for all six of the suspects involved in the August incident. With Serpa-Acosta’s arrest, four of those six suspects are now in custody, according to police.

An Aurora judge has approved the city’s request for an emergency order to shut down The Edge of Lowry, one of the apartment complexes that became a focal point of America’s debate on illegal immigration, particularly after the tentacles of a Venezuelan gang came to light.

The petition for the emergency order cited the December kidnapping and home invasion along with other violent crimes and quality of life issues since September 2023.

“Without intervention, I believe the criminal behavior will flourish, making living conditions untenable for any law-abiding residents in this neighborhood,” Aurora Police Department Chief Todd Chamberlain said in court documents.

Denver Gazette reporter Nicole Brambila contributed to this report.