Drugs and Crime in 1400 Block of Ogden Street Hurting Small Businesses: "Worst It's Ever Been"

Over the past six months, more than 110 crimes have been reported on Ogden Street between 14th and Colfax avenues, where a group of small businesses — the Corner Beet, Balanced Root Apothecary, Rooted Heart Yoga and Wellness, and the Glam House — have been struggling to make patrons and workers feel safe.

"Our customers feel very uncomfortable," says Glam House employee Sienna Abeyta. "People come up to their cars, come up to them when they're outside. It's scary."

"It's always something here," says one business owner. "It doesn't seem like there's an end in sight. It's just become part of daily business. It's something that we now have to deal with every day, and it's an added stress on our plate. I've had staff say, 'I just don't feel comfortable working here,' but more so, customers saying things like, 'I don't feel comfortable coming here at night' or 'This area just doesn't feel safe to me.' We've had public reviews made about that. Where it's just like the business is taking a hit for the [state of the] neighborhood. Worst it's ever been."

The Denver Police Department's crime map, which uses National Incident-Based Reporting System (NIBRS) data, shows at least ten reports of crimes being committed in January alone, with the most recent call coming into the DPD on January 25 for drugs and alcohol — the area's most common crime.

A total of 112 offenses have been reported on the block in the past six months, making the area along Ogden between 14th and Colfax the most crime-ridden block in Capitol Hill, and one of the worst in all of Denver. On January 23, there was another report made for drugs and alcohol, according to the DPD database. A "crimes against persons" report was made on January 21; an aggravated assault allegedly occurred on January 20; more reports of public drug and alcohol use were reported on January 17, January 16, January 11, January 10 (twice) and January 3. An auto theft was reported on January 5.

Residents, business owners and employees tell Westword that drug dealers, drug users, prostitutes and other shady characters invaded the 1400 block of Ogden during the pandemic, and things have gotten progressively worse since then. They tend to congregate near the corner of Ogden and Colfax, where there's a 7-Eleven, and then move down toward 14th throughout the day and night. They're often seen using drugs or engaging in alleged drug deals. There have also been multiple reports of assaults, robberies, auto theft and disorderly conduct at all hours, according to the DPD crime map.

Things have gotten so out of hand that Glam House employee Rainie Madrid will often drive her car to the 7-Eleven. "I will literally drive, and it's not even a block," Madrid tells Westword, noting that she's seen residents get hassled and yelled at while walking along Ogden toward Colfax. 

"I just don't want to go past them," she says. "It's an icky and scary feeling. And it sucks, because there's people who don't want to come here and get their hair done because of those people. ... I wish there was a level of respect that they could give us, as these businesses that are here are small businesses — family-owned businesses — just trying to make our livelihood the same way people on the street are. But also, we are trying to make an impact on this community in a good way, and it's hard."

One recent incident, reported to police in early January, saw a man in a bathrobe exposing himself and smoking crack on the patio of the Corner Beet — threatening staff and customers for more than forty minutes before a DPD car arrived and scared him off. Cell-phone footage captured from inside the Corner Beet and posted on Instagram by @dobetterdnvr shows the individual smoking and acting erratically.

Shop owners in the area say they've been locking their doors during regular business hours in recent months and letting people in one by one to help keep out the riffraff.

"We've had to make sure that this door stays locked at all times now," Madrid says. "The times that we have had it unlocked, there's just been people who come in — like yesterday, a guy trying to sell us a flatiron — who are looking for excuses to get inside. Sometimes we'll have people who come in and pretend they want to buy our products and then just start acting very weird, very odd."

"They're often not trying to steal; they're just inappropriate," Abeyta tells Westword. "Pulling their genitals out and things like that. ... We just aren't ever sure what their intentions are. I'm not sure if they're homeless, drug dealers or what. It's honestly a mixture of different things. There's women doing prostitution, drug deals going on all over the place. It's a lot, and I think it just comes down to desperation. They're in survival mode, 100 percent."

Madrid adds, "It's sad, and what makes it even sadder is that the owner of the salon has offered help to some of them — specifically, the women who are out there on the streets — and they don't want it. They just don't want the help. They don't want to be ruled by society or government and all that, so that's why a lot of them choose to live the way they live."

Coming to work and leaving are often the most stressful times for the employees, as people lurk in blind spots around their parking lots and buildings. "A lot of times they stand just out of sight of the door," Madrid says. "It's super uncomfortable."

There's a minivan in the lot next to the Glam House that's been stationary for months. "The man who lives inside it is really scary," Madrid says. "He just stares at us when we get out of our cars."

It's people like the minivan occupant who make customers and workers feel the most unsafe, not the ones who are "dealing drugs and just trying to survive," Abeyta adds.

"Honestly, I'd be okay if there was just a guy doing a drug deal or something and he's trying to feed his kid and all that," she says. "But then it's like, you have some psycho coming here and staying here who is doing weird stuff and living out of his van because he came here one time to buy drugs and now he's never left. Those are the type of people causing the most trouble."

What attracts lawbreakers to this one-block stretch of Ogden? Residents, businesses and local leaders point to the popularity of the 7-Eleven at the corner and the closings of nearby 7-Elevens in recent years, including one that was open for more than a decade at 2341 East Colfax before it closed in December and a store at 551 East Colfax near the McDonald's that was was notorious for shootings and other crimes; it closed in 2022.

"Where we really had problems prior to that was the 500 block of Colfax, between Pennsylvania and Pearl, with the issues emanating from the 7-Eleven there," says Frank Locantore, executive director for the Colfax Business Improvement District. "After it closed, those issues seemed to migrate to the 1400 block of Ogden and other 7-Elevens in the area."

The BID and city officials are now pushing to put an end to the nefarious activities on the block through "construction disturbance" and neighborhood updates — including "more lights, more greenery and other environmental infrastructure improvements," Locantore says.

"We have both immediate and long-term solutions," he tells Westword. "We anticipate all this to start happening in the summer months."

A parking lot surveillance tower near the 7-Eleven at Colfax and Ogden helped for a while; Locantore says the BID asked 7-Eleven to move it closer to the dumpster, where people like to gather, which the store did. Two months ago, though, without any explanation, it was moved back to the other side of the parking lot, according to 7-Eleven workers and Locantore.

The area where everyone posts up now is out of view from both the tower and 7-Eleven surveillance cameras; from there, people will head down Ogden Street. 7-Eleven's corporate office did not respond to requests for comment.
"DPD is aware of the reports of increased illegal activity in the area and is working with businesses in the area to address it as well," a department spokesperson says. "Officers are conducting extra patrols when call load permits, as well as other operations to address the illegal activity. We encourage residents and businesses to call DPD when there is any illegal activity occurring."

Hinds tells Westword that the DPD and the BID have been using the Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design system to help reduce fear and crime incidents in the area and improve the quality of life. According to a police description of CPTED, the approach is based on four key overlapping principles: natural access control, natural surveillance, territorial reinforcement and maintenance.

Hinds sums it up like this: "Basically, rather than get a whole bunch of police to profile or make a mess of a situation, the idea is to create an urban design to make for a welcoming environment for the businesses and the people going to the businesses, and to make it an unwelcome environment for the crimes and drug dealing and whatnot."

According to Hinds and Locantore, the DPD did an assessment of the area in 2022 and recommendations were made to the BID, Denver City Council and businesses along Ogden on how to mitigate crime and implement long-term solutions. The recommendations included "better lighting, making sure the sidewalks are clean, pressure washing and other things," Hinds says. He asked the city for money so the BID could carry them out.

According to Locantore, the BID received a $200,000 reimbursable grant through the Department of Safety, and designed a plan in three phases.

"In the immediate, police are doing operations weekly and making arrests each month," Locantore says. "So that's continuing, and they're working to make sure their efforts don't fall flat by continuing to patrol that block. In the near term, that's where the $200K comes in. Improving the environmental infrastructure, adding lighting to the street both with pedestrian scale light poles and ones on buildings where there are parking lots and behind the alley where there are dark spots. In the long term, we are having conversations with the businesses there on how they can make this a vibrant place like Larimer Square. Can we turn this into a festival street? That's a two- to three-year plan."

According to Locantore, the "best antidote to negative activity is positive activity." That's where the infrastructure improvements come in, he says — but it's not all that's being considered.

"The real long-term, sustainable angle on this is, 'Why does crime happen here? Why is this happening here and not down the street? Is it opportunity? How do we help our society have the tools to be able to live without committing crime?'" Locantore says. "So I do think we have to talk bigger, because these things did not happen overnight. While it may have seemed to have moved from other 7-Elevens and blocks overnight, the real issues have been around."

While the BID and the city look at solutions, the Corner Beet extended its hours of operation to 9 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday, which neighbors credit with helping to keep criminals at bay while also creating a sense of community and support.
"At night or in the later hours, when Corner Beet is open, it makes people feel safe," says nearby resident Drew Zwilling while grabbing an afternoon coffee there. "When it's not open, it's pretty desolate and prone to activity."

Neighbors and clients alike are grateful for all that Corner Beet and other businesses are doing. They just hope they don't give up on the block and leave the neighborhood.

"It would be really unfortunate for the neighborhood to see businesses like the Corner Beet and the apothecary leave due to this stuff," Zwilling says. "Places like Corner Beet are what make Cap Hill special. It would be really disappointing to see them move to RiNo or something like that. These places are what give Cap Hill its charm and protect the community."