Four men have been arrested and charged in connection to a violent June jewelry store robbery in Denver, federal officials announced Wednesday.
Federal officials said 23-year-old Oswaldo Lozada-Solis, 20-year-old Jesus Daniel Lara Del Toro, 21-year-old Jean Franco Torres-Roman and 18-year-old Edwuimar Nazareth Colina-Romero, all identified as Venezuelan nationals, were indicted by a grand jury this week on charges related to the armed robbery of Joyeria El Ruby in Denver.
Lozada-Solis, Del Toro and Torres-Roman were charged with felony armed robbery and brandishing a firearm during a crime of violence, according to court records. Colina-Romero was charged with transporting stolen goods and possession of stolen goods — both felonies.
On June 24, the suspects entered Joyeria El Ruby — a family-owned jewelry store located on West 38th Avenue — pointed weapons at employees, struck several employees and took a large amount of gold and jewelry, according to a news release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
The four were later found in the El Paso, Texas area, federal officials said Wednesday. At least one of the men is believed to be a Tren de Aragua gang member.
Federal investigators said the gang is an emerging threat in Denver, wherethousands of Venezuelan migrants have resettled, and other U.S. cities, according to a statement from Homeland Security Investigations regional spokeswoman Alethea Smock.
Security footage posted on social media by Lidia Tena, the owner of Joyeria El Ruby, shows multiple men breaking into the store’s backroom, repeatedly hitting two female workers and dragging them across the room by their hair.
Tena also posted asecond video feed from the front of the store, which shows two men threatening people at gunpoint, hopping the counter and grabbing handfuls of jewelry off the shelf and out of the display case.
The defendants made their first court appearances Tuesday and Wednesday in Denver in front of Magistrate Judge James O’Hara.
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Originally Published: August 22, 2024 at 9:00 a.m.
