Employee Of Dollar General In Wappingers Taken In Handcuffs From Cashier Counter By Men In Police Vests After Completing His Purchase As A Customer
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UPDATE 9/4/2026: Mystery solved! The Town of Newburgh Police Department in Orange County has claimed responsibility for the arrest, an named all other agencies involved.
Details here.
UPDATE 9/2/2026: This is an actively updating story. Please refresh this article for updates. A second witness has come forward with description of the man taken, and of the other men and one woman they saw taking the man. Their statement is below, and their receipt from their purchase at 6:20pm. Additionally, the first witness is the writer of this article. In past reporting, where this writer happened to be in the location of where an event took place, or involved in an event in other communications, some readers of ALBB got upset that this writer quoted herself as a witness. It should be noted that in that earlier instance, the readers who were upset were directly involved in the incident. So they may have felt exposed. Video explainer of that also at the very bottom of this article.
UPDATE 9/1/2026: The Town of Fishkill Police Department confirmed to ALBB that they received no calls for service for Dollar General the night of the handcuffing. The New York State Police Public Information Officer responded, stating: “I am not seeing anything at that location. We also do not have tan vests.” The Dutchess County Sheriff’s Office refused to give out information on if they attended or participated in the handcuffing. No press release from them or the Dutchess County Drug Task Force has been issued.
“I think we are to be informed what’s going on. It should be public. They could have endangered us really bad. It was so fast and out of nowhere. That’s why I felt it was ICE. They stalk and plan.”
At 6:30pm on Monday evening (8/31/2026) at the Dollar General at 1475 Route 9d in Wappingers Falls, a male employee was surrounded by men in tan vests that said POLICE on them, handcuffed him, and took him to a vehicle waiting outside in the parking lot, according to witnesses who were shopping inside at the time. Sometimes ICE employees wear these types of vests.
“At first I thought the store was being robbed,” one witness told A Little Beacon Blog. “I was looking at the Halloween decor that just arrived, when I heard someone behind me at the cash register say ‘Be still. We won’t hurt you.’ When I turned around to look at the cash register, at least three men had surrounded a person who they were pushing up against the counter, and were putting handcuffs on him. One of the white men wearing a tan vest that said POLICE on it had short brown hair in a nice clipped style, and a clean face, no beard.”
The witness continued: “I hid behind an aisle, but no one else seemed concerned. Everyone kept shopping. Everything was pretty quiet. The guy they put into handcuffs didn’t say anything, and the men’s voices were low. I assumed the man was robbing the store and that the cashier pressed a panic button. Next thing I knew, they had all left the store.”
After the men left, one employee who had been standing in the sliding door to rotate stock on shelves told the cashier that the men were in their cars and had “calmed down a little” if the cashier wanted to go question them. The cashier then went outside to question the men who took the employee. “It turns out,” the witness continued, “the man they took was an employee of the store, and this was his second time in the store that day to shop as a customer. The employees were surprised that he was taken in handcuffs after he paid for his things.”
Another witness confirmed to ALBB that police officers in traditional uniform were also there, in addition to the men in vests. Not confirmed was if the police officers in traditional uniform were apprehending the man, or were waiting outside. Witnesses who saw the men said they were not wearing face masks. ALBB asked a store manager if the men identified which law enforcement agency they were with, and the manager answered that they could not answer that question. When asked if anyone identified themselves as ICE, the manager replied: “No comment.”
One witness said that several vehicles were parked outside, including a van and a Jeep, though they did not confirm what type of Jeep. They said that men ran into the store from both the left and the right directions. They ran past someone standing in the doorway of Dollar General and said “Get the fuck out of the way.”
After the incident, a bewildered customer said: “They WANTED him!” Everything resumed as usual, the witness said.
After Article Published, A Second Witness Came Forward
Dollar General Receipt from 2nd witness who was a customer, time stamped at 6:20pm on 8/31/2026
After this article published, another community member who was shopping in the Dollar General came forward to tell ALBB about their experience. They said:
"I was there and it looked like ICE wearing vests that said FBI and Police and Sheriff! I was coming out after buying my items with a cart. The person they took was super tall and dark skinned and made a purchase and then they stormed in. Like 15 of them surrounded him as I was coming out. Most were men in regular clothes and vests like flannels; one was female. They were in like 6 cars and vans too. And snatched him up. I was super upset because I didn’t have a clue. One dude who stormed in was like "Get the F*** out of the way" and was so disrespectful. This was outside when they was all inside and their was no need! Dude they snatched up had like a scooter outside!"
Once in the parking lot, the shopper spoke with another bystander who was a young white man in his late 20s. The shopper continued: "I was mad about being spoken to like that. A guy I was talking to in the parking lot as I loaded my car was like 'Yea that’s messed up they talked to you like that.'"
Witness 2’s response to if the men who took the guy identified themselves as with any law enforcement agency. Witness 2 TOLD ALBB: “ALL DUDE SAID TO ME WAS GET THE FU** OUT OF THE FIN WAY”
ALBB asked if this shopper saw the person who was taken prior to him being snatched. They responded: "When the guy came in, he was full of energy and smiling and said ‘Hi’ to someone. He was tall. Super tall with a black head-wrap or something. He wore dark clothes and was dark skinned."
ALBB asked if the shopper saw anything else while they were out in the parking lot. "They had him outside; like snatching him up and checking his scooter thing. Looking under it."
The shopper stated: "I think we are to be informed what’s going on. It should be public. They could have endangered us really bad. It was so fast and out of nowhere. That’s why I felt it was ICE. They stalk and plan."
ICE Prominent In Beacon In 2025
ICE was more in view in Beacon in 2025 when at least one employee of a local restaurant was taken. ICE watch groups were formed to warn about sightings from Newburgh to Cornwall to Fishkill. ICE was seen walking the streets of Beacon with different vests on. Some had POLICE on them. Read about and watch a video interview between a local mom and an ICE employee who was stalking a local back road here: “ICE Spotted Again In Beacon On Soccer Saturday - "Community Is Watching," Neighbor States (With Video)”
