Statement: There has been a lot of misleading information shared about what is happening in our city. Aurora is a safe community. Media have conflated and considerably exaggerated incidents that are isolated to a handful of problem properties alone.
Yes, we are concerned that there is a small Tren de Aragua (TdA) presence in Aurora and we have been taking it seriously. We have responded. We have made arrests. We will continue to make arrests. We will continue to address the problems that the absentee, out-of-state owners of these properties have allowed to fester unchecked. Aurora will aggressively pursue all actions available under city code and criminal statute.
As the Aurora Police Department shared a short while ago, we have received questions about Jhonardy Jose Pacheco-Chirino also known as “Cookie” or “Galleta.” We previously announced his arrest in connection to a July 28 shooting. We are able to confirm Pacheco-Chirino, 22, pictured here, is a documented member of Tren de Aragua (TdA). The department is not aware of his status within the gang. He is currently in the custody of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).
Local, regional and national media are leading the nation to believe that Aurora is wholly unsafe. That is simply not true. While these isolated situations are rightfully of great concern and warrant increased action and scrutiny, violent crime in the city is down in nearly all crime categories.
Going to grocery stores, parks, schools, banks, shopping centers, visiting with neighbors and other everyday activities remain unchanged.
The city and the Aurora Police Department (APD) will not make any conclusory statements about specific incidents or provide details about law enforcement strategy and operations. Doing so would be counterproductive to our public safety efforts.
Furthermore, as we have stated previously, the city and APD established a special task force in collaboration with other local, state and federal partners to specifically address concerns about TdA and other criminal activity affecting the metro community. We are grateful that the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), a valuable federal partner, has acknowledged its ongoing work into TdA across the metro and appreciate the additional resources it provides to combat this issue.
We will continue to urge all community members to report crimes to local law enforcement.
Again, Aurora is a safe place to live, work and visit. It is tragic that select individuals and entities have mischaracterized our city based on isolated incidents. We encourage you to build up our community and not allow the hysteria of others to tear it down.
