A group of 500 teenagers became a “public safety issue” at an Aurora shopping center parking lot when some of the teens started vandalizing and stealing things from nearby businesses on Sunday afternoon, police officials said.
The responded to the Hoffman Heights shopping center near East Sixth Avenue and North Peoria Street at 1:30 p.m. for a large group, mainly teens between 14 and 17 years old, gathering in the parking lot after an unpermitted sporting event.
People started walking onto the street and smaller groups went into nearby businesses, including a restaurant and grocery store, and vandalized property and stole merchandise, the Aurora Police Department said in a news release.
Officers declared it an unlawful assembly and ordered the crowd to disperse, which required more than 70 officers to respond, police officials said.
Investigators are still reviewing video and other evidence to identify people suspected of criminal activity.
“The overwhelming majority of young people in our community make good decisions every day,” Aurora Police Chief Todd Chamberlain said in a statement. “But a crowd can create a false sense of anonymity and encourage individuals to make decisions they might never make on their own. If you commit a crime in a crowd, you should expect us to use every tool that we have available to work to identify you and hold you accountable.”
Problems with “teen takeovers” — large gatherings of young people in public spaces that devolve into (sometimes criminal) chaos — have popped up across metro Denver in recent years.
Anyone with information about the incident in Aurora can contact Metro Denver Crime Stoppers at 730-913-7867.
