The Beacon community was jolted today when news of a violent assault of a woman allegedly walking a dog along Tioronda Avenue circulated on social media and in personal texts, accompanied by discussions in private and public Facebook community groups about the situation. When the Beacon Police Department issued their first Press Release, their wording was vague, leaving community members frusterated, as Chief Figlia referred to the event as: “a possible, past occurred assault on Tioronda Ave. in the area of Wolcott Ave." But people had seen police activity in the area just that morning, and the text already circulated.

The term “past occurred” indicated no time - 5 days ago or 5 hours ago, and “possible” indicates that the assault did not happen at all, or that doubt was placed on the person who said they experienced the assault. Phone calls and FOIL requests to the Police Department, and social media posts about the department were made by the public.

Soon, a second statement was issued later in the afternoon with more detail, such as confirmation of the assault and time of arrival of the police. That release also stated that she “may have been the victim of a crime,” but did not state what the crime was, before confirming that she was “seriously assaulted” in the next sentence. In the text circulating on social media, she had been walking a dog, who was connected to alerting humans who aided in her being found. However, detail of the dog was not in the Police Department Press Release.

By the time the first Press Release was posted to the Police Department’s Facebook, many people in the public knew details, which included an elementary school lockdown. But none of that was mentioned in the first statement, which angered the public, as the Police Department held tight to protecting the privacy of the victim and the integrity of the investigation.

This, in the context of a federal blessing of immunity on violence unleashed on women and people of color, which is playing out in Minnesota and other cities in the country. One ALBB reader, Janice Sullivan, said of the first Press Release: “This is not enough information to keep people safe. They’re not saying what happened.”

The First Wave Of Information

The Dutchess County Scanner Feed group in Facebook, run by moderator Patrick O'Dell, published a notice that there was increased police presence in Beacon at 10:30am. That action alone triggered people to text their people with an alert. Hours after that, Patrick closed comments on his post, saying that people had broken his page’s rules by speculating on the situation.

By then, the text of alleged details had been sent to ALBB and published in at least one Facebook group. ALBB emailed Chief Figlia saying we would wait to publish anything until the Police Department issued a Press Release. A source told ALBB that police activity was seen that morning at the Arno residential building at 248 Tioronda, where a tent had been set up in the parking lot where police vehicles were parked. The tent was broken down shortly after that.

Meanwhile at Dutchess County Scanner Feed, Patrick did a hard close of comments saying: “Apparently, if I forget to turn off commenting on a post a bunch of people decide to disregard/disrespect all rules of the page, others, PD & me. EVERYONE has been banned or suspended who did so. Wasted time but I decided to still do it. Thanks to all the others."

When the Beacon PD’s first Press Release published, barely any detail was confirmed. Not the gender of the person, age, location or time. It was assumed that the perpetrator was still at large, however, which is what was on most people’s minds. Not knowing if this was an intimate partner domestic violence situation, or a random attack.

Police activity parked at the Arno residential building the Wednesday morning of the assault, where a tent was set up and then broken down.

In response, community members took to other groups to get the information out. The text was shared in a group in an effort to encourage women to walk in pairs and to be alert and careful. They stated that Sargent Elementary had conducted a lockdown, which is located in the vicinity of the attack.

The first Press Release mentioned Beacon City Schools, but only that they had been alerted that a search was being conducted. ALBB sought out and received confirmation that Sargent’s principal emailed school families that Sargent had conducted a lockdown, which locked the doors of the school while kids continued learning inside. Other schools did not go on lockdown.

The second Press Release confirmed the lockdown, stating: “Upon arrival it had been determined that there was reason to believe that the female victim had been seriously assaulted. At that time, given the proximity to the Sargent School, the Beacon City School District was notified and advised to place the school on lockout until the area could be searched.” No one was found in the search, the statement confirmed.

To provide an idea of when district families are robo-called about an incident with the school, when a school goes on lockdown, district families are robo-called about that. If it is a practice drill or unexpected occurrence. This week, in fact, a bat was found in the Beacon High School. District families were robo-called immediately about the bat, that was contained by pest control. Sargent families were emailed by their principal about the lockdown regarding the assult. Families at other schools were not alerted.

Details Confirmed In The Beacon Police Department’s Second Press Release

Chief Figlia stated in the second release of the department:

"On 1/14/2026 at approximately 9:20am the Beacon Police Department received a call from Dutchess County 911 to assist Fire and EMS who had responded to a call regarding a female who was unconscious in the area of Tioronda Ave. and Wolcott Ave. and may have been the victim of a crime.

"Upon arrival it had been determined that there was reason to believe that the female victim had been seriously assaulted. At that time, given the proximity to Sargent School, the Beacon City School District was notified and advised to place the school on a lockout until the area could be searched. The area around the school was searched and no one was located. Therefore, BCSD was advised of the same. As of that time the department was confident that the suspect was not in the that immediate area.

"The victim is in stable, physical, condition. Given the nature of the incident, however, the department is, even now, still working with her in order to determine key details of the crime. Because of this, we are not releasing any information that is not yet fully confirmed. Additionally, though we understand the public's safety concerns and desire to know more, the department must balance that with our obligation to the victim's privacy and wellbeing as well as our obligation not to put out information that could compromise this investigation. We are urging others to also please respect this victim's privacy as much as possible.

"At this time a suspect has not been identified, nor is anyone is custody. As with any other time, people should use caution, be aware of their surroundings and report any suspicious activity to the police. If anyone has any information specific to this case, we again urge you to call 845-831-4111."