'Apple Dumpling Gang' Members Arrested After Multiple Robberies

DENVER, CO— Two members of a crew of youthful alleged armed robbers were charged in connection with robberies in Denver area cellphone shops, pawn shops and a Pueblo drive-by shooting, the Denver District Attorney's Office said.

Dubbed "The Apple Dumpling Gang," because they allegedly favored iPhones in armed robberies of cellphone stores, the duo were sought by the U.S. Department and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms after a daytime October armed robbery at a Littleton Pawn shop where the duo allegedly stole 21 guns.

At the time, police believed they were two young men, but the DA's office identified the two as brother and half-sister Danny Lujan and Anastasia Romero, both 19.

Lujan and Romero are charged with nine counts of aggravated robbery, three counts of three counts of first-degree kidnapping and nine counts of menacing, in addition to other charges on Dec. 31 the DA's office said, Friday. A third person connected to the robberies was not mentioned in the DA's notice.

Police were tipped to the siblings' identity by a call to Metro Crime Stoppers, an arrest affidavit said. Police took Romero into custody Dec. 19 on a warrant from the Lakewood police and recovered eight Percocet pills she had allegedly hidden in her bra. The ATF cracked her cell phone and recovered photos of some of the guns stolen from the Littleton pawn shop, the affidavit said.

The two are charged in the following robberies:

May 29, 2018 - Metro PCS, 7260 S. Monaco St., Commerce City
Oct. 16, 2018 - Metro PCS, 1934 W. Mississippi Ave., Denver
Oct. 17, 2018 – Pawn Bank, 1360 W. Littleton Blvd., Littleton
Nov. 27, 2018 – Metro PCS, 2960 S. Federal Blvd., Denver
Dec. 9, 2018 – Metro PCS, 5320 W. 38th Ave., Wheat Ridge
Dec. 27, 2018 – First Cash Pawn, 2551 Sheridan Blvd., Edgewater

Timeline:

Romero reportedly told police that she and her brother robbed the Metro PCS in Commerce City on May 29, 2018 using her aunt's car. She told police the money was for rent, the affidavit said.

The affidavit said the pair allegedly robbed Metro PCS on Mississippi Avenue on Oct. 16, 2018 around 1:30 p.m. Lujan allegedly held a handgun to a female clerk's head and Romero allegedly pointed a shotgun at a male clerk and told him "not to do anything weird." The two robbers escaped with a cell phone and $450 from the cash register, the affidavit said, driving off in a black Chevy Aveo, which was reportedly stolen from an area near Colfax and Kalamath Street in early October. Romero reportedly told police she paid for a tattoo on her hand with money from the robbery and selling the stolen phone.

The next day, Oct. 17, the two allegedly arrived at Pawn Bank at 1360 W. Littleton Blvd., around Littleton around 1:15 p.m. wearing red bandanas over their faces, reports said. Lujero and another male confronted staffers with handguns, then allegedly broke a display case and stole 21 handguns. Reports at the time said a third person, whom Romero identified to police as herself, drove the Aveo getaway car. Police released photos from the robbery and the ATF offered a $10,000 reward for information. The third person cut his hand during the robbery, and Lujan offered to superglue the wound together, Romero told police in the affidavit.

On Nov. 27, 2018, the pair allegedly robbed the Metro PCS, 2960 S. Federal Blvd., Denver, around 1:30 p.m., collecting money from the registers and stealing three cell phones. They allegedly fled in a grey Jeep, according to the arrest affidavit.

Romero told police she "got into a bad car accident" on Nov. 30, 2018.

Lujan and another person identified as "Giovanni" allegedly robbed another Metro PCS store in Wheat Ridge on Dec. 9 and allegedly robbed First Cash Pawn on Dec. 27, 2018.

Two of the getaway cars were identified and recovered, one in Pueblo.

Several law enforcement groups worked together to investigate the robberies, including the Littleton Police Department, the Denver Police Department and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives Denver Field Division which began in October 2018.

No charges were filed in connection with the alleged incidents in Pueblo.

Lujan and Romero are next scheduled for Jan. 24, 2019.

Related: ATF Offers $10,000 Reward In Littleton Gun Robbery

Related: Pawn Shop Robbed In Littleton: Handguns Stolen

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