Arrest documents obtained by The Denver Gazette show that before the case made national news, young Venezuelan gang members in Colorado were harassing each other, stealing cars to commit other crimes and crashing wherever they could find a bed.

One particular set of crimes involving two of the 10 Tren de Aragua (TdA) gang members arrested by Aurora police involved embroiling mostly Venezuelan immigrants in their 20s in what appeared to be a turf war for all.

Documents reviewed by The Denver Gazette tell this story.

Arrest affidavits show that two weeks before the confirmed TdA gang member was arrested for assault in connection with a rent dispute, he was the victim of a Mafia-style crime at The Edge at Lowry apartments at 1218 Dallas St. in Aurora.

During the incident, Daniel Mora-Marquez told police he feared for his life, adding that if he was seen talking to authorities, “his family in Venezuela could be in danger.”

This wasn’t the only statement Mora-Marquez made to police that disagreed with his actions.

He testified that he had not lived in the apartment at 1218 Dallas Street for a very long time and assured officers that he did not know the men who broke into the apartment while he and the woman were sleeping inside.

He and Destiny Cruz told police they were married, but had only recently met, according to court records.

Last Wednesday, when he appeared to be on the run, Mora-Marquez was arrested on warrants issued in Arapahoe and Adams counties on suspicion of a two-month crime spree that spanned from early April to late June, Aurora police announced.

Those incidents included arrests stemming from an argument and assault over unpaid rent in the 1600 block of Lima Street in Aurora on April 4.

The home is located just a few blocks from the Aspen Grove Apartments, where other TdA activity took place before the complex was evacuated and closed by the city in August.

After his arrest, he posted $20,000 bail but failed to appear at his court hearing. According to police, on a second arrest warrant, Mora-Marquez fired six shots into a home in the 400 block of Nile Street on June 29.

In that incident, Mora-Marquez took revenge on the homeowner for kicking him out of the home, the homeowner told police.

He is also accused of assaulting his girlfriend while they were sitting in a car.

No one had heard from the girl or Mora-Marquez until her arrest last Wednesday.

Twisted plot

Documents show that Mora-Marquez was wanted for a crime on Lima Street, and he and Destiny Cruz became victims themselves.

Arrest records show that on May 18, a man – later identified by Aurora police as a member of the Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua – broke into the couple’s second-floor apartment in The Edge neighborhood of Lowry.

The document showed that the intruder, Carlos Gabriel Aranguren-Mayora, was a neighbor. Mora-Marquez told police he lived on the first floor of an adjacent building on The Edge property.

Cruz told police the suspect pointed a silver semi-automatic handgun at the couple and was joined at the front door by five to six other men.

Cruz stated that while at gunpoint, she overheard Aranguren-Mayor remark: “They are beating… -,” the statement read.

The intruders took Cruz and Mora-Marquez at gunpoint to Cruz’s black Toyota Camry, threatened to shoot them and asked them in Spanish, “Do you want to die?” the order announced.

The pair then handed over their car keys, fled and eventually located an Aurora police officer and then identified Aranguren-Mayora, the warrant added.

During the course of the investigation, police learned that he was out on bail in connection with a separate criminal case involving misdemeanor and menacing crimes pending in Adams County.

Aranguren-Mayora, who was later arrested for home invasion, faces charges of theft of property valued between $5,000 and $20,000, two counts of second-degree burglary and four counts of criminal menacing.

Aranguren-Mayora, 23, has a hearing scheduled for Wednesday afternoon, and Mora-Marquez’s next court appearance will be a preliminary hearing on Oct. 30. Both cases are being prosecuted in Arapahoe County.

Aurora Police Department spokesman Joe Moylan did not say whether more arrests of known TdA gang members were imminent, but noted that the department would continue to release information about confirmed TdA members once “they have been thoroughly vetted and verified.”

No history, no trace

The pre-trial report on Mora-Marquez shows almost nothing about him other than his crimes. There is no information about work, address, relatives, driving license or education. Only his crimes, which spanned Adams County, and his date of birth are listed.

His place of birth is marked only as “VZ”.

The 2023 Immigration and Naturalization Service has been affected.

Information about the other TdA member, Aranguren-Mayor, is even scarcer. No pre-trial report can be found in his case. Any information the police could obtain from him was consistent with what he had given them.

Eighteenth Judicial District Attorney John Kellner said his office “actively monitors gang-related crime,” noting that immigrant crimes are difficult to prosecute for a population that often has no known history.

“One of the many challenges we face is the lack of information about the suspect’s criminal history or his connections with other known criminals,” he said.

Still, he knows people get frustrated “when immigrants enter our country illegally and then commit crimes in our community,” Kellner said.