Residents in Denvers Lodo Petition to close the private parking lot citing crime

Denver – The residents in Denvers lower district in the city center close together to close a nearby private parking lot and claim that the property attracts criminal activities.

Alexa Cowen started a petition to close the property in the 1801 Market Street.

“We saw numerous shootings, many fights in this parking lot. Many people tried to get out of the fights,” said Cowen. “We saw how cars collapsed against other cars right in front of us.

Cowen created the petition after four people were injured in a shootout near Market and 19th streets. The 25 -year -old Carlos Lujan was arrested in connection with the crime on Friday.

Cowen said the shootout emphasizes the fear that she and her neighbors feel.

“I started a petition to try to close this parking lot or at least have it monitored so that people cannot occur and go according to their free will, so that we can complete this parking space and this incidents cannot be done every day,” she said. “We never know when these incidents will happen.”

New data published on Monday show a significant decline in murders in Denver and Aurora in the first quarter of the year, since violent crime in the most important US cities continues to decrease. Despite the decline, the lieutenant from Denver, Dave Albi, said he shares the concerns of Lodo's residents.

“We share your concerns, “said Albi.

In the summer months, the Denver police department provided their command posts in the Lodo neighborhood on weekends to help the officials monitor the great crowds that gather there. Albi said that the staff is already high for the region overnight due to nightlife, but in the summer months the department increases the staff for the region even more.

“You have the real-time criminal center technicians who come down there and you will monitor the cameras. So in real time you can send officers there if something happens,” said Albi. “We understand the concerns that the citizens have down there and we are out there to enforce the law and we will be out there [continuing] enforce the law. And please, please contact us, call us and we can guide more resources in these areas if necessary. It is a focus area for us. So we make sure that we have officers there and that officers are used there. “

The parking lot in question is in the possession of Parkwell, which was recently highlighted by Denvers Department of Excise and licenses on its LinkedIn page for lighting improvements on the property.

“Like many companies in Denver, if you operate a parking garage or a parking space on which you get payment for the people to park there, you have to receive a license,” said Eric Escudero, the spokesman for the department for consumption tax and licenses from Denver. “We have strict regulations in Denver for licensing for parking and the lighting to ensure that we could try to protect a place, since the lighting prevents crime under many circumstances.”

In December 2024, the city of Denver published new lighting instructions for parking spaces in the city center of Denver.

“The law enforcement says that good lighting leads to a reduction in crime. If you see through Denver and parking spaces, someone may be installed new lighting, as this will happen in Denver,” said Escudero. “But of course, just because they have good lighting does not guarantee that no crime will ever take place.”

Escudero said Denver7 that a complaint was submitted to the parking lot. It was submitted on Tuesday.

The lot is currently without a license, while the description of the ownership updates the signage to comply with the guidelines of the city, according to Escudero.

“They are currently a non -licensed operator, but they have not yet fined the city because they take the steps to be licensed, and that's why we issue fines,” he said.

Cowen said she ultimately wants to do more so that she can feel safer in her house.

“We want this to stop. We are all together. We are a large community here and we are all together,” she said. “So everything we can do to stop this, we try to do. We bring our voice out there.”