AURORA, Colo. — In an interview with Denver7, Aurora City Attorney Pete Schulte said the case against the man connected to the now-infamous Edge of Lowry apartments, and several other complexes, is at a "standstill" after he failed to appear in court Wednesday.
As first reported by our partners at The Denver Post, the Aurora Municipal Court slapped Zev Baumgarten, an owner of CBZ Management, with seven warrants for his arrest after he failed to attend a code violations hearing
"The city, our code compliance, has done what they can to try to get those properties up to code, and we just weren't getting a lot of cooperation from the owners and the managers," Aurora City Attorney Pete Schulte told Denver7 in an interview Thursday. "Where we are today is that we have shut down those three apartment complexes in Aurora."
The seven warrants are connected to the seven code violations Baumgarten is accused of. Baumgarten is also wanted on a warrant out of Denver.
"I'm not shocked, because he did not appear in Denver's courts, as well," Schulte said. "If they're going to make the claim that Mr. Baumgarten is not the right defendant in these cases, he still has to show up to make that argument."
- Watch our full interview with City Attorney Schulte in the video player below
At one point, CBZ owned nine properties in the Denver metro area — four in Aurora, three in Denver and two in Edgewater:
- The Jewell in Denver
- William Penn in Denver
- Courtyard on Vine in Denver
- Edge of Lowry in Aurora
- Aspen Grove in Aurora
- 200 Columbia in Aurora
- Whispering Pines Apartments in Aurora
- Squire Apartment in Edgewater
- Duchess Apartments in Edgewater
Denver's Department of Public Health and Environment (DDPHE) has spent years investigating complaints filed against the three Denver properties. While the William Penn Apartment complex was shut down due to violations and fees owed, the same doesn't apply to the two remaining Denver properties owned by the company — The Jewell and the Courtyard on Vine.
In Aurora, after years of code violations and deteriorating conditions, the city filed civil and criminal lawsuits. According to Schulte, a criminal nuisance civil lawsuit was filed against the property management company, CBZ Management, alleging that more could have been done to keep crime out of the complexes.
"Most criminal cases you can't file against an organization," Schulte explained.
Due to the "ignored code violations," Schulte said criminal cases were then filed against Baumgarten.
"At this point, we're at a standstill," the city attorney said. "These cases cannot move forward until Mr. Baumgarten shows up and makes an appearance."
Denver7 has been following CBZ Management since a viral video of armed men inside the Edge of Lowry complex forced Aurora into the national spotlight. Read our recent coverage below:
- CBZ Management sues Colorado Attorney General's Office over investigation subpoenas
- Aurora police chief calls closure of troubled Aurora complex 'turning point' in city's fight against crime
- Aurora Mayor Mike Coffman calls CBZ Management an 'out-of-state slumlord,' says company 'exploiting' crisis
- Troubled property owner CBZ Management has history of citations across Denver metro properties
Schulte is not sure where Baumgarten is at the moment, but said municipal court warrants cannot be served outside the state of Colorado.
"Unless Mr. Baumgarten comes into the state of Colorado, and we know about it, he's not going to get caught," Schulte said. "We don't extradite, you know, from New York City or any other state back to Colorado on this level of cases."
The city attorney said the city would be able to extradite Baumgarten if he faced felony charges. In addition, failure to appear does not make Baumgarten's charges more severe, according to Schulte.
"Before the legislature this session, we could have charged them that additional case of what we call failure to appear, which would have been another violation of our city code here in Aurora, but the legislature took that ability away from us," Schulte told Denver7.
According to Schulte, if Baumgarten were to turn himself in, he could receive a personal recognizance (PR) bond. If he does not return to court, Schulte said the cases will remain stalled.
"Justice delayed is justice denied," Schulte said. "And that is why we're trying to get him to come back."
Denver7 reached out to the law firm that has previously represented Baumgarten, but has not received a response as of the publication of this article.
