Six teenagers face charges linked to Aug. 30 Aurora shopping center teen takeover

AURORA | Aurora police said six teenage juveniles face charges linked to a teen takeover of a local shopping center late in August that drew hundreds of people, overwhelming the parking lot and some stores, vandalizing property and stealing merchandise.

“This is something that we are not going to tolerate in our community,” Police Chief Todd Chamberlain said at a press conference Monday. “The unlawful behavior, the violence, the property damage, the criminal activity, is something that we are not going to allow in our city, and it’s something that we are, without question, going to do our due diligence to make sure that those who are involved in that are held accountable.”

Between 750 and 1,000 people, mostly teenagers, gathered at the Hoffman Heights shopping center on the afternoon of Aug. 30, prompted by viral social media posts by accounts with large followings, including streamers Quincy Helsel and Khan Asadi, police said.

Some of the crowd ran through nearby businesses, including people who vandalized property and stole merchandise, police said earlier.

Videos of teens running through King Soopers and standing on tables in Burger King went viral on TikTok and other social media platforms.

Ultimately, more than 70 police personnel responded to the area. 

The gathering apparently grew out of a community event planned by Helsel, the Quincy Community Classic, to give away free haircuts and school supplies, police said.

Chamberlain said those event planners were denied permits to hold the events in Denver and did not have permits for the gatherings in Aurora.

The chief said he’s consulting with city attorneys as to whether they, too, may have violated criminal laws in holding the events. 

Chamberlain said that after 180 hours of police investigation, six suspects have been identified, potential charges were determined, and two people have been arrested after reviewing hours of video and multiple interviews.

Detectives Matthew Campbell and Richard Jordan said they reviewed more than 120 hours of social media, news, and other video footage, along with witness and business-partner information to identify suspects and determine charges.

Only one person, so far, faces theft charges. Several people face charges of reckless endangerment, disorderly conduct and third-degree assault. All the charges appear to be misdemeanors and all passed along to the 18th Judicial District.

The event was originally planned to be at George Washington High School, but had to be relocated when the school canceled the night before, according to another event organizer, DJ Fa Dora, who shared background on the plans on a local podcast with Brother Jeff Fard.

Police said at the time they would have to speculate about how such a large crowd was able to materialize at the shopping center so quickly, but noted that the area is highly populated and one of the busiest intersections in the city. Other contributing factors include a nearby high school and the availability of public transit, including buses and RTD, and microtransit, like scooters.

The growing phenomenon of the so-called takeovers, prompted by social media posts have been reported in cities across the country.

Last year, several hundred teens met up at the Shops at Northfield in a similar pop-up gathering and inspired plans for other takeovers. One planned at Town Center in Aurora prompted police to increase their presence at the mall, according to KDVR, which preempted the meet-up. 

According to the Associated Press, teen takeovers, which are often promoted on social media, have become a recent national trend, leading to shootings, vandalism and theft in some cases. Other communities that have had teen takeovers, like Detroit and Chicago, have sought to identify organizers, fine parents of those involved and impose curfews.

Teens told AP that the gatherings have happened in response to the closure of spaces for youth and businesses like malls and movie theaters imposing group limits. 

John Bailey, director of the Colorado Black Round Table and past director of the national Weed and Seed program, said young people should be held accountable for their behavior, but the phenomenon of “teen takeovers,” as well as violent or disruptive juvenile conduct is part of a larger problem.

Kids who are seen as problems by the community become a self-fulfilling prophecy, especially when they’re bored and left alone to their own devices, Bailey said.

Aurora leaders need to ask what after-school programs, rec programs and other events are available to kids in the Aurora community.

“If you see that those resources are not available, then what’s happening is that these kids are at home, always on social media or on video games, and just coming up with crazy stuff to do,” Bailey said. “They can just be young and dumb.”

The problem of teen delinquency and violence isn’t just a concern of parents, but everyone.

“There’s some data out here that says that kids all go to school with the same energy, mindset and enthusiasm,” Bailey said. “But by third grade, a good number of Black and brown kids have been isolated, either by skill or by behavior, out of the classroom.”

Bailey said a one-size-doesn’t-fit-much-of-anybody system just passes kids along.

“That’s what truly becomes the school to prison pipeline,” Bailey said. “This is just as much a root-cause story that includes institutional racism and systemic abuses.”