The Aurora police investigated a chain of incidents at an apartment complex that possibly involved members of Venezuelan prison gang Tren de Aragua, Chief Todd Chamberlain said at a Tuesday news conference.

The investigation stemmed from a video released to police by a resident of the Innovation at Fitz Apartments, located at 544 Potomac St., of several armed men banging on the door of a unit in the complex, Chamberlain said.

The residents never opened the door, and Chamberlain said he “shuddered” to think of what would have happened if they had.

Chamberlain called the video and the information police have learned in the subsequent investigation “very reminiscent” of previous TdA incidents at other Aurora apartment complexes.

While he cannot yet say for certain that TdA is operating at Fitz Apartments, he said there is, “without question,” gang involvement in the incident and he believes that it is TdA or a TdA affiliate.

Since the police got ahold of the video, officers have arrested two of the nine men involved, Chamberlain said on Tuesday.

Larry Galbreath, 23, who lives at the apartment complex, was arrested and charged with felony menacing and violation of a protection order, and Jordan Green, 22, was arrested and released on a summons, which was then revoked.

Green has a warrant out for conspiracy to commit felony menacing and unlawful possession of a weapon, according to police.

Seven other suspects have not been arrested or identified. 

The residents of the apartment unit in the video had just moved into the complex two days prior and are from Venezuela, Chamberlain added.

Several factors led Chamberlain to believe the incident involved a gang — and likely that of TdA, he said.

Galbreath told police that he was tattooed by a Venezuelan in the complex and that many of the Venezuelan people who victimize people in that area are high on narcotics, specifically using a derivative of cocaine and ketamine called Tusi, Chamberlain said.

Similar to past TdA incidents, the group of people in the video targeted a specific community of Venezuelan people living in an apartment complex, he added.

In the video, the group of people is seen using intimidation and alliances common with gang activity, he said.

“The tactic of stacking up at a door with multiple weapons pointed at it while they’re in a position of cover and concealing, that is not something that you see in a normal crime spree,” Chamberlain said. “That is something that you see with individuals who have been groomed, who have been cultivated, and that are a huge risk to the community and to the immigrant population.”

Since the video was handed to police, officers have been patrolling the complex, and Chamberlain said they are pursuing it “aggressively” and “proactively.”

He added that the managers of the apartment complex have been “very, very helpful,” which is unlike past experiences they have had.

A string of calls for service came from the apartment complex over many months, starting with a shots fired call in August, Chamberlain said.

In September, a 14-year-old was kidnapped and pulled into an apartment at the complex. In both October and December, police received calls of shots fired from the same complex.

In January, a person was taken into an apartment and barred from leaving. Later that month, squatters in an apartment at the complex assaulted a resident. 

The following month, 15 to 20 squatters were in another unit of the complex. 

In May, a shooting happened there. Then on June 6 and June 7, shots fired calls came from the complex, Chamberlain said.

He urged anyone with information to come forward so the police can make sure the situation doesn’t escalate, the police chief said. 

In the past year, Aurora officials have shut down two apartment complexes operated by CBZ Management, the company that became the focal point in the national debate on illegal immigration after reports linked TdA to criminal activities in Colorado.

TdA has a growing presence across Latin America and the U.S. Authorities have said the gang’s members are involved in a myriad of criminal activities, including drug trafficking, kidnapping, money laundering, extortion, and human trafficking — specifically targeting immigrant women and girls.

Gang members appeared to have infiltrated the U.S. by embedding themselves with Venezuelans fleeing President Nicolás Maduro’s oppressive regime. About 8 million Venezuelans have fled the country with more than 500,000 estimated to be living in the U.S.

Last August, Aurora officials shuttered Aspen Grove, a 99-unit complex, leaving about 300 people, mostly immigrants, homeless. Officials in February shuttered The Edge at Lowry and held a high-profile news conference with Chamberlain in a cockroach-infested apartment.

The chief said Tuesday that Aurora has “turned a corner” when it comes to crime, but that the city still has unsafe places. 

“Aurora is not an unsafe place,” Chamberlain said. “Aurora is not taken over by gangs by any stretch of the imagination. There are problem locations like in any other major city, but we are proactively and aggressively addressing those problems.”