Laramie County Sheriff Brian Kozak told Cowboy State Daily a suspected Venezuelan gang member is one of five undocumented aliens in the county jail. He said he is concerned about reported Colorado gang violence because what happens there winds up in Wyoming eventually.<\/h5>\n\n\n\n
By Clair McFarland<\/p>\n\n\n\n A suspected member of the violent Venezuelan gang that has ignited a firestorm of controversy amid rumors it\u2019s overtaken an apartment complex in Aurora, Colorado, is incarcerated in a Cheyenne jail.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Other than that, Laramie County Sheriff Brian Kozak said he hasn\u2019t seen any of the reported Tren de Aragua gang terror in the Cheyenne area. While he hasn\u2019t seen the gang\u2019s members taking over apartment complexes or other buildings here, as they\u2019re accused of doing in Aurora, Kozak said he\u2019s concerned about the reports.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cUsually, things wind up this way eventually,\u201d said Kozak, referring to Denver-area crime.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Kozak said he has reached out to the Aurora Police Department and other officials to gain clarity on what is happening there in light of an informational disconnect. The law firm an apartment system hired to investigate the situation insists the gang took over the apartment complex, while the Aurora Police Department denies it happened.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Neither the city\u2019s mayor nor police department responded by publication time to Cowboy State Daily\u2019s requests for comment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n CBS News Colorado and other outlets in recent days obtained a Denver law firm\u2019s investigation summary<\/u><\/a> insisting that gang members have threatened to kill and have tried to kill management personnel of the Whispering Pines apartment system in Aurora.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Gang members stabbed another resident for refusing to pay \u201crent,\u201d a property manager quoted in the report also alleges.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In response, Aurora Police Department Interim Chief Heather Morris told the public that police \u201care actively investigating criminal activity and listening to (the community).\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n But Morris denied that the Venezuelan gang has taken over the Whispering Pines apartment complex.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI’m not saying there are no gang members living in this community,\u201d she said. \u201cBut what we’re learning is that gang members have not taken over this complex.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Kozak voiced concern that the Aurora Police Department \u201cwasn\u2019t really saying much\u201d when he pressed for more information on local gang activity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Officers in the area sometimes voice their frustrations to him with Denver\u2019s \u201csanctuary city\u201d policies and reported crime influxes, he added. He declined to connect Cowboy State Daily with those officers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n But in preparation for criminal factors trickling north, Kozak on Thursday changed his office\u2019s policy to allow U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) 48 hours to pick up any undocumented inmates on the brink of being released from the local jail.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The old policy only gave ICE two hours to pick up undocumented inmates being released, said Kozak.<\/p>\n\n\n\n He said he wants to give the federal agency more time to pick up undocumented offenders so they can\u2019t vanish when released after their cases are adjudicated. <\/p>\n\n\n\n In the Laramie County Detention Center, a suspected Tren de Aragua member is now incarcerated, Kozak said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n That inmate is Elizando Gonzalez Perez, 23, who is charged with felony theft on claims he stole a silver 2005 Toyota Highlander from the Colorado Springs area from another Hispanic man.<\/p>\n\n\n\n If convicted, Perez faces up to 10 years in prison. His trial is set for Nov. 25.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Gang affiliation is of concern to Laramie County jail personnel because they try to keep gang rivals separated, Kozak said. They identified Gonzalez Perez\u2019s suspected Tren de Aragua affiliation based on three clues:<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u2022 Graffiti Gonzales Perez made in his cell.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u2022 Tattoos on his body.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u2022 Admissions he made.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThere\u2019s criteria we use to try to identify gang members,\u201d said Kozak. \u201cIf you have at least two of the criteria we can categorize them as a suspected gang member.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n The Laramie County Detention Center currently houses five undocumented people, said the sheriff.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The jail housed seven Thursday. ICE picked one up, and one went to the New Mexico Department of Corrections with his ICE hold still intact, he added.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWe usually average about two at a time,\u201d Kozak said. \u201c(This) is a spike.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n The sheriff blamed the spike on a \u201cfailed open-border policy that has allowed thousands of undocumented persons \u2014 some criminals \u2014 to enter our country. And Denver accepting them, as a sanctuary city.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n This is not the first time Kozak has critiqued Denver-area police policy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n![\"Laramie](\"https:\/\/cowboystatedaily.imgix.net\/Brian-Kozak-submitted-9.6.24.jpg?ixlib=js-3.8.0&q=75&auto=format%2Ccompress\")
Some Preparations<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Suspected Gang Member<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
![\"Elizando](\"https:\/\/cowboystatedaily.imgix.net\/GONZALEZ-PEREZ-ELIZANDRO.JPG?ixlib=js-3.8.0&q=75&auto=format%2Ccompress\")
A Spike<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Throwing Down Again<\/h2>\n\n\n\n