Dear ALBB:
“Are you planning on any followup articles on the woman who was assaulted on Tioronda Ave in Beacon earlier this year?”
The email came in Tuesday morning, which was the morning after Memorial Day Weekend. So it was as if it was a Monday. A few other emails came in as well. Two people emailed in - with urgency - about the data center being proposed for East Fishkill. A reporter also emailed in with a pitch to write an article about how Pat Ryan and Mike Lawler continue to accept money from AIPAC, the Israeli lobby that seems to be running and ruining this country. ALBB accepted the article. It will likely publish next week.
The Tioronda Assault, as it’s come to be referred by locals in Beacon, remains on everyone’s mind from when it happened in January 2026. When ALBB is out and about, people sometimes stop to ask: “Any news about Tioronda?” Which is met by a blank stare, because ALBB thinks they are talking about traffic patterns or development issues on Tioronda.
But they are not. They are talking about the woman who was violently attacked and dragged up the hill into the woods while walking her dog one dark and chilly Friday morning in January before sunrise. News of which spread via one screenshot of a text that was circulated around hundreds of phones, talked about in private Facebook groups, and turned everybody upside down as they tried to respect the victim, asses their own safety, and look for the suspect.
The attack was kept under the rug at first by the Beacon Police. No matter how well intentioned they were, the attack was first called a “Possible Assault” in their first press release. The press release said it was “near Wolcott,” which may be misleading because Wolcott is a busy avenue, and this happened in the woods. The police recommended a lockout at Sargeant Elementary (keeps all kids in the school and locks the doors) while they searched the grounds for the attacker who they never found.
The public has been sus of the handling of this case. There are several reasons for this. This article will address some of these issues below:
Jaded Locals Said: “This Happens All The Time.”
Police Said: “As With Any Other Time, People Should Use Caution”
Right away, people had opinions. Locals contacting ALBB, mostly the male ones, said: “This happens all of the time. You don’t realize how many violent crimes happen here.” ALBB did not dispute this, as we have been told of assaults and violations that do not make it into Beacon Police reports, but it was not comforting.
In their second press release, the Beacon Police said: “As with any other time, people should use caution, be aware of their surroundings…” And by their fourth release, recommended for people to take self defense class.
This was not comforting. Even though the press release said that the officers investigating the crime were thinking about it day and night.
Babyann Hernandez, a Beacon resident who created Before. (an app that helps people spot domestic violence tendencies before it's too late), said this in a recent 5 Questions interview with the Highlands Current when asked if women's behavior changed since the assault on Tioronda: "Absolutely," she said in the paper. "Women are less inclined to walk their dogs alone, especially in that area, and at certain times. It was triggering for me...When I moved to Beacon, I felt a sense of, 'Oh, that can’t happen here,' and then when it happened, I felt like I couldn’t breathe."
What Do We Not Know?
The Beacon Police released a description of the attacker: a white man, about 5’11” who is in his 30s-40’s with “a brown, very close beard.” But questions remain:
Did Beacon Police question anyone in the area the day of the attack? If so, how long after the assault did they question anyone?
Was the dog harmed in any way? Did the dog show signs of being kicked? Or did the dog show signs of trying to bite someone? Was it scared?
Are there indications that the white male with the close beard has done this before? Are there other police reports fitting this description?
Are there incidents described by women to the Beacon Police in the past that for whatever reason did not make it into a police report?
Should the Beacon Police make an open call for unreported violent assaults? To encourage people to come forward again - or for the first time?
What Do We Know?
No new information has been released by the Beacon Police. We know that they need evidence to make a case. We know from some local residents that the first responders who attended the victim were shaken. We know that the climate at the time was very testosterone driven with zero accountability. Employees of ICE had just shot and killed two people (the mom and the nurse) in Minneapolis, Minnesota and were under no threat of being arrested or investigated. People who are in the immigration process were and continue to be picked up, taken away in vans, and then sometimes dropped on the side of the road if enough legal intervention happens on their behalf.
The night before this attack, a Comment person in Facebook who writes under an anonymous name actually wished that ALBB would get SA’ed by “an illegal.” ALBB suspects who this anonymous person is, as they appeared after ALBB published the story of the alleged underage drinking in the woods article.
Much as MAGA likes to pin blame on brown people, this was very white.
Soon after the attack, a neighborhood walk was organized, where about fifty people walked. Neighbors discussed among themselves what their thoughts were about the situation. A few citizens have come to City Council Meetings to discuss their ideas on improving safety along Tioronda Avenue by having the City of Beacon install lighting on the street. This topic has not been carried through by Mayor Kyriacou. No safety measures have been proposed by the Mayor or added to any future agendas.
Among Us - Bro Culture and Toxic Circles
There exists protection in high class functions. A disbelief that a person circling around classy events, like a foodie celebration or gala, could ever do something so violent. But we have all seen the movie American Psycho. Heck, we are living it with the Israeli genocide on Palestine, and the Epstein Class seeing no accountability.
A recent crime-writing literary workshop event by Beacon Lit featured a Beacon-based author, Cynthia Weiner, author of the New York Times best seller A Gorgeous Excitement, which is about the Central Park “preppy murder.” During the class, Cynthia passed out descriptions of unsolved cases in this area, and encouraged participants to pick one to use for her next exercises in this class, which included asking one self why a certain story resonated with them on why the writers wanted to write about it.
The Unsolved Murder Of Scout
Then there is the still unsolved murder of Quiet Man Rene Vivo known as Scout. He was stabbed one afternoon at 3pm on Main Street near Feeds R Us and Amacord while walking back to his home at Forrestal Heights. Despite cameras on the streets, the murderer was never found. Former Police Chief Sans Frost indicated during one Budget Presentation during a City Council Meeting that the suspect could have been a “transient,” a word police use when referring to people who move through towns with no official grounding anchor of a home. Word on the street exists of who might have done it. What events led up prior to that stabbing. But it remains unsolved.
The Beacon Police, along with the Dutchess County Drug Task Force and and the Dutchess County Sheriff’s Office Drone Unit were most recently involved in the arrest of four people in connection with the murder of Lionell Pittman, a Beacon community member in the Forrestal Heights parking lot. The shooting in the Groveville community in October 2024 remains unsolved.
The killing on Rombout Ave of Casey Cuddy, the psychiatrist nurse, by the retired Beacon police officer Eddie Irizarri in July 2025 was self-reported by the retired officer to 911. The Beacon Police arrested him and turned the case over to New York State. That case is moving through the court process. The arson of the house at 426 Wolcott Ave was also self reported by the arsonist, who walked himself to the police station to turn himself in after dousing the house in gasoline. He had been a prior resident there when it was a boarding house, but was being evicted as the boarding house with no private bathrooms and a communal kitchen was being completely renovated into apartments with bathrooms and kitchens in each unit.
