The Truth About Grocery Ice Cream Prices In The Freezer On Main Street In Beacon

Example of a supportive comment at the top, followed by a insulting comment below. For businesses in Beacon or anywhere, slings at pricing for local business is tiring and can be more casually targeted at businesses run by people of color.

Last week, ALBB covered the opioid crisis related bankruptcy of Rite Aid as being the reason for their bare shelves. With the exception of the ice cream freezer, which employees said was broken. In response, one local reader, Lesly Deschler Canossi, commented via Instagram: “and leaving key food and molile pricing as only option on ice cream is just wrong.” She most likely meant the “Mobil” gas station in that typo. What is not a typo, however, is her intent of branding an image of pricing, which is misleading and untrue. The price of ice cream is nearly equal between Key Food and Rite Aid, with Rite Aid at times having the higher price.

Before we get started in this pricing deep dive, it must be recognized that there are people in Beacon who like to throw these punches at Key Food and Mobil, which are both locally owned by families who live in the community. Key Food is Yemeni American owned, and Mobil is South Asian American owned. When members of the Beacon community speak their rude remarks, is it racist? Islamophobic? Hangry?

It can’t be hangry since this is not the first time somebody took a swipe at Key Food for no reason. It has happened during a City Council Meeting, when Dennis Pavlov demanded that a bigger grocery store move in, for instance.

Are Local Contributions Recognized?

NAMI Ribbon PSA Campaign for Mental Health Awareness hanging outside key food on their trees, when the City Of Beacon denied NAMI from hanging them.

Key Food gives on a regular basis to organizations of Beacon, but are they recognized? This includes Key Food’s civic contributions, like when they donated 10’ of their parking lot years ago to be turned into mulched beds for trees to widen the feel of the sidewalk. Key Food also allowed PSA ribbons for the NAMI (National Alliance On Mental Illness) white ribbon campaign in May, when Beacon’s City Administrator Chris White denied NAMI the ability to hang them on lamp posts. The City of Beacon was the only municipality in this region who denied NAMI. The ribbons were everywhere else. Key Food allowed the ribbons on the trees in their parking lot, so that NAMI could have some representation in Beacon.

Facts: The Real Price Of Ice Cream

Let’s look at the real important issue here: the price of ice cream in the freezer.

In a Ben and Jerry’s cookie dough vs cookie dough comparison, Key Food was $6.79 and Rite Aid was $7.29. Other flavors varied, where Key Food was higher than Rite Aid by a handful of cents. Mobil, which is really a convenience store owned by Shah and not attached to Mobil, came in at $8.99. This means Mobil (or, Shah) can only buy ice cream in much smaller quantities than either Key Food or Rite Aid, giving him less buying power to pass a deal to customers.

Of Talenti, Key Food is $.60 higher than Rite Aid. Hardly sticker shock.

Discounts and Deals On Ice Cream

What also must be discussed are the discounts and deals on ice cream and other items at both Rite Aid and Key Food. Both offer deals with a VIP card. Rite Aid makes you use your card to get the deal. Which is a loss of your private data. Rite Aid then profits off your data by selling it to data mining companies who then hit your email inbox with personalized, flavored spam.

Key Food in Beacon just scans their own card, and off you go with your bonus special deal. Last week at Key Food, Haagen-Daz Ice Cream was 2 for $8 on Assorted Flavors, which comes to $4 per pint.

When you’re getting the coupon, be sure you read the label. If you grab a box that isn’t covered in the deal, then you’re not going to get the deal. Like these Haagen-Daz Vanilla Milk Chocolate bars. You get 2 for $8 of the box of 3. Not the box of 6 mini versions.

Ok? Ok.

And don’t miss the sale on Stone Ridge Creamery ice cream, where it’s $3.99 today.

But Wait, There’s More!

Did you know that Haagan Daz pints are only 14 ozs? Not even the full 16oz.

So now who you going to be mad at?

Beacon Back 2 School Block Party Invites Community To Celebrate & Prepare For School

South Avenue Park at Loopers Plaza is firing it up again with the Beacon Back 2 School Event from I Am Beacon and Key Food on Saturday, August 19, 2023 from 12-3pm. This event is known for signalling the final days of summer with a cookout in the park, accompanied by several vendors at tables providing information to kids, parents and caregivers, as well as basketball games being played down below at Loopers Court.

Co-founder of I Am Beacon, Reuben Simmons told the Beacon Free Press this week: “Although we host with Key Food, this event is a true collaboration in every sense of the word. Beacon Recreation Department, Beacon City School District, and the Beacon Hoops Summer Basketball program. I enjoy providing a platform for so many of our community organizations to come out and share their information.”

Participating Organizations

Participating organizations this year include: Girl Scouts of the Hudson Valley, Cub Scouts Pack 1, Boy Scouts Troop #41, Brain and Body Coalition, Tradition Christmas Tree Lighting, Children’s Home of Poughkeepsie, St Andrews & St. Lukes Episcopal Church, Growing & Empowering Myself and My Sisters (GEMMS), A Little Beacon Blog, Beacon Elks Lodge #1493, Salem Tabernacle, Tara’s Mission| Flip !t 4 Human Rights, Highlands Current, Conservation Advisory Committee, Staples, Beacon Climate Action Now, City of Beacon Police, Beacon Dental, and Contender eSports Gaming Center Hudson Valley.

Food and Entertainment

Key Food will be providing burgers, hot dogs and drinks for sale or by donation but is not required for those in need. HOPE Church is bringing the grill. “It takes a village!” co-founder Brooke Simmons told A Little Beacon Blog. Proceeds from the sale of food will go to I Am Beacon’s Class in a Bag program, which provides full backpacks and school supplies to students in need in the Beacon City School District grades K-12.

All Star Games from the Beacon Hoops Summer program start at 10am and go through the morning.

School supplies will be collected throughout the day. A small bus will be on-site, and attendees are encouraged to help "stuff the bus" with donated school supplies. DJ King Cyrus will be playing music throughout the event, which will end with a raffle draw.

A Little Beacon Blog will be offering face painting. A portion of the sales will be donated to I Am Beacon, and the rest helps us publish this publication. Donation recommended but not required. We will paint anyone.

How It Works

To get a free bag of school supplies, students will be given a “Student Passport,” and are required to collect “stamps” from each vendor’s booth. Cards will only be handed out for the number of bags available.

South Avenue Park | South Avenue Park is located at 9D and South Avenue. The address is 98 South Avenue, Beacon, NY 12508. The event takes place in the open area between the tennis court and basketball court, and below the climbing playground and Beacon Recreation Center.

Hunting For "Fancy Cocoa Powder" But Found These Goodies On Main Street Instead

For a request for “pudding in fancy glasses," went in search of “fancy cocoa powder” in order to homemake such pudding (turns out, an unsweetened dark chocolate bar or chips were called for), but found all of this goodness instead:

  • The homemade apple pie at Stella’s Fine Market, and the make-your-own version in a jar.

  • The stacked rack at Utensil Shops that we didn’t know we needed but there it is solving the counter problems, as well as the popcorn 🍿 bucket. “Everything you didn’t know you needed and more on Main Street! I love that Yamazaki Home - got one in my kitchen too! Happy Thanksgiving!

Eventually, the fancy cocoa powder was at the old trusty grocery stores, Beacon Natural and Key Food Beacon.

Baking Cocoa Powder at Beacon Natural

Baking Cocoa Powder at Key Food Beacon.

Beacon Lions Club Complete Food Drive For Veterans At Key Food

Beacon Lions Club Food Drive Collection at Key Food.
PHoto Credit: Beacon Lions CLub

Beacon Lions Club at the 2022 Spirit of Beacon Day.
PHoto Credit: Beacon Lions CLub

The Lions Club helps provide needed services to the Southern Dutchess County area including, sight/vision, hearing, hunger, childhood cancer, diabetes and others. Lions Clubs International is an American secular, non-political service organization founded by Melvin Jones in 1917. As of April 2020, it had over 46,000 local clubs and more than 1.4 million members in over 207 countries around the world.

Here in Beacon, the Lions Club just completed a food drive collection for Veterans at Key Food. Says the Beacon Lion's Club: "Our motto at Beacon Community Lions Club is: 'We Serve'. If you ever dreamt of being great in your life, be of service to others." If you are interested in getting involved as a volunteer or by donating, visit their Facebook page.

You may have also seen them at the Spirit of Beacon Day, or the Beacon Back To School event from I Am Beacon, and several other mission-driven services.

Until November 18th, the Turkey On Every Table food drive collection is happening at Key Food as well. Donate at the checkout.

Congratulations To ALBB Team Teslie Andrade and Izdihar Dabashi!

Congratulations to A Little Beacon Blog Team Members Teslie Andrade and Izdihar Dabashi for graduating in their continuing education!

Teslie (left) earned her Associates in Occupational Therapy from SUNY Orange. Teslie graduated with her Bachelors in Exercise Health Science four years ago, and earned her yoga certification. Teslie is an excellent photographer, defender of justice, foodie, dog mom, and a major foundation of support for A Little Beacon Blog. She is our Program Manager, and over at Katie James, Inc., she serves as a Creative Director for social media campaigns we do for clients.

Izdihar (right) earned her Masters of Arts in Deaf Studies from Columbia University. Izidihar (Izzy) is deeply fascinated by neuropsychology, child development, and disabilities. Says Izzy: “If my fingers aren't restlessly typing stories, I am most likely immersed in a cloud of research surrounding neuropsychology and child development. My current focus includes innovation combining neuropsychology, creative technologies (hello Piaget and Seymour), and therapies for kids with special needs.”

Izdihar is a Graduate Student Researcher at the Department of Biobehavioral Sciences at Teachers College, Columbia University. The project is in the design stage of a study focused on the following research question: "Do children with epilepsy display higher levels of emotional attentiveness compared to typically developing peers?" The study is designed to implement advanced eye tracking methods.

Read all of Izdihar’s articles for A Little Beacon Blog here.

These two are not done in the advancement of their knowledge. A Little Beacon Blog is so blessed to work with both of them. Well done and well deserved! Wishing you more years of success and reward.

Key Food Beacon Possible Victim Of Implicit Bias & Entitlement; Is This Arab Family Owned Business Unprotected?

This article is 1st in a 3-part series that covers in the incident at Key Food Beacon on March 2, 2020, that was written about and published in the Highlands Current on March 25, 2022, after a settlement was reached on March 15, 2022 between a customer who was injured in what Key Food Beacon maintains was self-defense. This article takes a Deep Dive into that incident by relying on hundreds of pages of court documents, 3 police reports, multiple interviews, texts, and questions asked of people in authority who did not respond.

RELATED ARTICLES IN THIS SERIES

This article includes lots of dialogue in Q&A form so that you can get a feel for how people were feeling and how they described the situation. Not how a reporter could describe it. This article also includes a lot of explanation about why it was written. But sure to read. till. the. end.

Mo Dabashi (left) and Emad Dabashi (right) pictured in 2022, after the ordeal. Emad actually works somewhere else now, but you may notice his other brother working the deli. Not twins, but they look like twins.
Photo Credit: Katie Hellmuth Martin

Please note: after the newspaper article published, and before this blog article did, some fellow business owners felt protective of Key Food Beacon, and wondered if a second article was in their best interest. Feeling in solidarity with Key Food, knowing that dealing with rude people in the public is unpredictable. They asked if Key Food would want this spotlight, again. The owners have told me yes.

After the newspaper article, Key Food Beacon began receiving threats from some Beacon community members by phone, email and in person to their family members. Key Food did not ask for this blog article. But has voiced approval in telling more of this story than what is shown in a picture and 20 second video.

This is that story.

Resources Used For This Article:

3 Police Reports (incident happened on 3/02/2020):
According to Mo Dabashi (manager), JB Said (co-owner) the police were “divided” in how the police responded to the first verbal altercation of the customer. A second verbal altercation happened hours later, which resulted in the customer’s injury.

  • Beacon Police Report 3/3/2020
    Report Numbers: BL - 001734-20 CR-00232-20
    Notable about this report:
    1. Police Not Stopping Alvin: This Police Report states: "HQ advised units that the male inside the store was removed from the store earlier in the day and told not to return by the store owners. This agency was contacted about the previous incident and the male fled from the area prior to officers arrival." However, as seen in the parking lot video, and testified by the customer himself, the customer did not flee, and walked past the first officer who arrived. According to Emad’s testimony, when Emad asked the officer to tell the customer not to return, the police officer told Emad that there was nothing he could do, and that Emad would need to go to the station to file a report. Additionally, video and the customer’s testimony tell that he was not removed from the store, but had walked out after buying groceries. The customer stated in his lawsuit testimony that he and his mother “kept walking as if nothing happened” (Alvin had been verbally abusive in the store, causing the employee to ban him from returning).
    2. Alvin’s Notable Intoxication: That the officers interviewing Alvin after he was put on the floor by Emad could not get much information from Alvin because he appeared to be “under the influence of alcohol,” which Alvin later identified which prescription medications he had taken with beer later in his testimony during his lawsuit.

    3. Damaged Property: In this report, “officers did observe multiple grocery items damaged and on the floor of Keyfoods aisle.” This is notable because in co-owner JB Said’s Police Report that pressed charges against Alvin Medina two days later was allegedly tossed out by Detective Sirrine because after seeing the 20 second video of the physical altercation, Detective Sirrine allegedly decided that since he did not see damaged property in the confined space of the video, and that JB was not there that day but was filing on behalf of his employees, Detective Sirrine told JB that his Police Report was “incredible” and could not be used, as described by JB in his testimony during Alvin’s lawsuit (see below). According to Alvin’s testimony, he wanted to press charges two days after his incident, but the police advised him that they would have to arrest him if he came to the station. Later, according to Alvin, they called him to pick him up to take his report. It is unknown if they did this after discounting JB’s filing of charges, and telling JB his Police Report was deemed “incredible.”

  • Key Food Franchise Co-Owner JB Said’s Police Report Against Alvin Medina 3/4/2020
    Report Numbers: BL - 001734-20 CR-00238-20
    In this report, JB files to press charges against Alvin. In it, he stated that Alvin damaged store property and called his employees “terrorists.” This report was later allegedly tossed out by Detective Sirrine.

  • Alvin’s Police Report pressing charges against Emad 3/4/2020
    Report Numbers: CR-00232-20 Blotter/CC No: BL-001734-20 Arrest Number: AR - 00082-20
    In this report, Alvin had returned home from the hospital and had medical records to support a serious injury to his face. In this report, Alvin never admits to cursing or flipping the bird to Emad in response to not getting his combined deli salads, and accuses Emad of calling him a “faggot,” which Emad later denied in his testimony. In Alvin’s testimony, he admitted to saying “f-you” in response to not getting his deli salads in his testimony, and giving a hand gesture. Alvin allegedly said other threats such as “punch you in the face” but he did not mention those in this report.

4 Testimonies From Alvin’s Lawsuit: Emad Debashi, Alvin Medina, Mo Debashi, and JB Said.

Court Documents that the Highlands Current sent over.

Interviews with Mo Dabashi, JB Said and Junior Dabashi.

When the front page of a local newspaper that brands itself as “Beacon’s Hometown Newspaper” splashed a photo of a local Key Food Beacon employee, Emad Dabashi, in the final and most graphic seconds of a bad customer situation, that photo could have sealed his fate in ink as people wrote their own stories of what happened in their minds and out loud when gossiping with each other days and weeks after it was published.

As a frequent shopper of Key Food Beacon, I was taken aback by the photo, in the sense that seeing the 3 employees shown in this situation was highly unusual and out of character for them. At six o’clock on Friday morning, I read the article on my phone. I subscribe to the free newspaper as a monthly $10 donor, in order to support local media. I value their reporting. Which gets me the digital edition early.

From the article, I learned that this altercation happened two years ago in March 2020, and this month, on March 15, 2022, Alvin Medina, who was injured by Emad who maintains it was in self defense to Alvin’s alleged repeated threats and angry swinging of milk, filed a lawsuit days after his injury and was paid $95,000 by the insurance company of the local family business who owns the franchise of the Key Food Beacon.

After the settlement was signed on March 15, 2022, the customer started posting the video of his injury to his social media, making more verbal assaults. According to several people who saw his postings, he would publish the video, take it down, then publish it again with more angry words, one of which included a racial Arabic insult (see screenshot below). Seeing this bubbling in social media, the Highlands Current decided to run an article about it, according to Junior Dabashi of Key Food, who said that the reporter approached him with questions.

After reading the article, I was taken aback for a second time that the newspaper selected the photo that they did to represent the article. Not only that, but on the member-only digital edition of the newspaper that gets delivered via email on Thursdays at midnight, before the paper drops into newsboxes on Friday morning, the editor had issued a warning that the photo was graphic. The editor also noted that a second photo of a building demolition was disturbing. See more details about that here.

The Highlands Current editor hardly ever issues warnings like that. It was odd. As if he were excited to be publishing such a graphically disturbing photo to the expense of the people involved, with a researched yet abbreviated article to describe it.

A Little Beacon Blog’s Research Of The Key Food Story

This article here at A Little Beacon Blog aims to give space to the voices of both Emad and Alvin, to be heard to express how they were feeling in their own words in the 2 different times Alvin came into the store - the first time, and then the second time where he defied the ban he earned for allegedly cursing at Emad so loudly and consistently, and was not stopped by police the first time as Emad had requested. Their testimonies during Alvin’s lawsuit show what happened in a way that cannot be told from the final 20 seconds of a silent surveillance video clip.

Quotes from their testimonies, as well as from manager Mo Dabashi who was there that day and in the newspaper photo, and co-owner JB Said who was not there that day, have been used to tell more of this story that is being discussed in the Beacon community. More details have been added, including the restraining order Key Food filed and was granted against Alvin, as well as how the police were allegedly “divided” about how they responded during the first time Key Food called the police about Alvin, asking for the help of the police for him to not return to the store.

A spotlight is placed on Alvin’s testimony during his lawsuit that the police possibly protected Alvin from being arrested after JB pressed charges against Alvin on behalf of Key Food, as reads in Alvin’s testimony below. ALBB reached out to the detectives mentioned, but neither they nor the City Administrator responded.

Several details are cross referenced across depositions, police reports, and interviews. This article has been broken up into chapters so that you can take your time with it.

During Interviews With Key Food

Hours after the newspaper article published, I went to Key Food to speak with Mo and JB directly. We stepped outside to the parking lot so that I could listen to the first bits of what happened two years ago, and what was happening right now. Because of the newspaper article and the customer circulating the 20 second video of the most heated moments and his allegations of homophobia, some members of the Beacon community began calling and emailing the store, threatening and speaking their angry minds.

As I sat on the railing of the shopping carts, a customer pulled in, a white older man, and sneered at JB and Mo as he walked in to store. Or was he squinting at the sun? But the sun was behind him. Hours later, as I returned to the store to shop for my weekend snack-supply, an older white woman praised my fashion while I was in the back of the store near the chips. Speaking in smiles, we happily discussed where she too could buy it. Later, we ended up in the checkout line together. JB and his brother-in-law Max were behind us, speaking in Arabic. The large and extended family who owns this Key Food Beacon franchise is from Yemen. That’s in the Middle East.

From the checkout line, my new friend turned around to look at JB and Max as they conversed in Arabic. She made a sneering face as she leaned in toward me to tell me something quietly. Before hearing what she had to say, I promptly turned around to step out of line to interrupt JB and Max to ask them in English where to find the chocolate covered cookie sticks (Arabic is not currently in my Babble app, as it has so many dialects, but I am working on my Spanish and do speak in Spanish to the Car Wash Guy across the street when asking for the Super Wash).

Max and JB jumped on my request right away to find the chocolate covered cookie sticks. Max looked on the bakery table by the bread, and JB looked in the snacks by the toilet paper. By the time I got back to the checkout line, the woman was leaving, and we happily waved goodbye to each other with smiles

2 Different Altercation Events This Article Covers

There are 2 different encounters with the customer and the Beacon Police. Then, there are events involved with each party filing Police Reports against each other, one of which seemed to have gotten tossed out. The Highlands Current reported that Key Food did not file charges against the customer. But what the newspaper did not report was that the Key Food Beacon franchise co-owner JB tried to press charges against Alvin on behalf of Emad, but his filing seems to have been tossed out. Additionally, days after the incident, JB filed and was awarded a restraining order against the customer on behalf of the store. The customer must now walk on the opposite side of the sidewalk.

The customer and plaintiff, Alvin Medina, who cursed at and threatened an employee, Emad Dabashi, at Key Food, causing him to be scared and call the police to have the customer banned from the store.

Threats Made To Key Food

The newspaper article and the social media posts of the customer triggered a swell of discourse and community chatter about Key Food Beacon. The public became the jury in a case they knew very little about, deliberating amongst themselves. While many members of the community came to Key Food’s defense in social media comments and out on the street, some people called and emailed the local owners of Key Food with threats. Those threats extended to personal comments made to the children, spouses and siblings of the Key Food Beacon family. Most women in the Dabashi and Said families wear the hijab (head scarf), and are easily identifiable. Read what JB expressed about that here.

PREFACE:
The Alleged Anti-Arab Racial Insults

While the alleged racial insults are not the reason for feelings of fear that Alvin created in Emad and Mo (they said they responded more when they said Alvin would punch them in the face), everybody knows that some people in the Beacon community have expressed anti-Arab Muslim sentiments aimed at the Yemeni families who own the Beacon franchise of Key Food. One could argue that anti-Arab insults have become normalized in this country and around the world, and go unchecked.

In the police Incident No. BL-001734-20, Case No. CR-00238-20, filed by JB with Detective James Sirrine of the Beacon Police, JB described that when the customer “was turned away from the deli he became verbally abusive towards his staff, and began calling them profanities and terrorists.”

In the depositions of the court documents, both Emad and Mo stated that the customer did not call them “terrorists” when asked directly by Alvin’s attorney.

However, when I interviewed Mo for this article, Mo without question told me that Alvin used racial insults. The reason why both Emad and Mo answered the way that they did in the lawsuit depositions is explored later in this article.

Alvin Medina’s racial insult to the employees of Key Food posted on March 28, 2022, calling them “dirty,” which is a racial insult towards Arabs, who observe hygiene into their prayers, which they practice 5 times a day and wash before each prayer.

Upon the signing of the Stipulation of Discontinuance With Prejudice on March 15, 2022, which ended the lawsuit two years after the incident, and after agreeing to a payment of $95,000, the customer began expressing his discontent in social media, starting a fresh batch of verbal abuse, and used an anti-Arab racial insult on March 28, 2022, calling the employees of Key Food “dirty.” He deleted it in April after the check was mailed to his attorney. As of the taking of this screenshot, the customer’s Facebook was public, and posts could be viewed.

A screenshot of his insult was preserved by A Little Beacon Blog and published here. Several other members of the Beacon community have also preserved screenshots of the customer’s recent posts on Facebook and Instagram after the lawsuit ended.

Being called “dirty” as an Arab Muslim is one of the lowest Arab insults. Arab Muslims wash themselves before each prayer. Hygiene is extremely important to them, and is incorporated in guidance for their Friday prayers, the holiest day of the week for Muslims (like Sunday to Christians, or Saturday to Jews). Many Muslims pray 5 times per day. Key Food uses a room in the back of the store as a prayer room, as described in Mo and Emad’s depositions in the court documents.

CUSTOMER BEHAVIOR OVERVIEW:
A History Of Prior Insults Allegedly Made By Alvin

Key Food has a loyal following of customers and happy shopping experience. As with anywhere, a handful of customers feel entitled to take out their frustrations on employees. Most businesses on Main Street can attest to this as they deal with the public.

During a time prior to this incident, JB recalled a different time the Alvin was upset in the checkout line, and used the profanity: “F***ing A-rabs,” (pronounced with a sharp A). Said JB to A Little Beacon Blog in an interview: “He scared our cashier so badly. We sent her home that day to recover.”

According to lawsuit testimonies from Mo, Emad and JB, the police have had to be called over the years for unruly customers. As discovered in those testimonies, the the approach with an aggressive customer is to be patient, try to understand the customer’s level of understanding, and to call for help of other managers to help diffuse a situation.

While Alvin’s profanity didn’t offend them, Mo and Emad said in the depositions that it scared them. Calling the police is part of their policy when a situation gets too scary, said Mo and Emad in their testimonies to Alvin’s attorney. Mo told ALBB during an interview: “We need the help of the police. We rely on them.”

What follows is a story of an entitled customer, a police response, newspaper coverage with deaf ears, and the City of Beacon’s response that was dimly lit with gaslight.

A Tale Of 2 Salads:
A Story Of Entitlement


CHAPTER 1: The Deli Counter

Frequent shoppers of Key Food know that Emad Debashi is a tall, quiet person who usually wears glasses, as his other brothers do. One of his brothers looks very much like him, but they aren’t twins. Emad often bends down to give people his attention, and speaks from a low place, almost matching the speed of a slow rolling river. He has worked at Beacon’s Key Food for 10 years, and is a member of the family who owns the local franchise, Key Food Beacon.

On March 2, 2022, a customer named Alvin Medina came in with his mother to grocery shop. According to the customer, he went to check out with his mother, but had a craving for shrimp salad, so went to the deli counter. In the deposition, Alvin answered the Key Food’s attorney’s question about what salad he was craving: “Basically usually I would get, like, the shrimp salad mixed with some of the other salad that was there, I think it was like crab or something.”

Alvin’s attorney questioned Emad about the salad, who recalled: “He ordered two different salads to be filled up into one container, two different prices. I told him that we don't put two different salads with different prices. If it was the same price I would do it with no problem, but since there are two different prices I told him I can't do it.”

Alvin felt a way: “I asked if I could get the salad, and when I asked it, he just gave me like a rude face, he just looked upset. I don't know if it was his day or what was going on. But he was like, we don't do that here. And he just turned his face like he was pissed off or something he didn't like, yeah.”

Key Food’s deli opened in August 2019, along with a newly paved and painted parking lot.

According to Emad in his testimony: “He [Alvin] insisted. He said that he's gotten it there multiple times and that he's been there at the store for 4 years and shopping there for 4 years.”

Alvin later said in the deposition that he got the salad maybe two times. The deli opened in August 2019, and this salad incident happened in March 2020. A Little Beacon Blog wrote about the deli opening because the investment was such a large undertaking with construction limiting the flow of shopping for a while.

Emad told Alvin’s attorney: “I always advise if there's two different prices not to put it in the same container and I didn't want to overcharge him and I didn't want to under charge the store so I advised to give him two different containers and I'll put it in two different containers, two different prices. He still refused it and wanted it in the same container.”

Next, Alvin told the attorney that Alvin said: “I said okay fuck you. And I went back in line and waited with my mother.”

Emad recalled: “After I refused he flicked his middle finger towards me, and then kept walking, and then started cursing using fowl language so I told him since you're using fowl language I need you to step out of the store. I don't want you coming into the store anymore, and that was the first interaction.”

Alvin admitted to not knowing the employees at the Key Food Beacon store, despite his stated long shopping history. “I never paid much attention to the employees there, besides the one with the long hair.”

CHAPTER 2:
The Checkout Line

Emad described how Emad came out from the deli counter to the checkout line to tell Alvin to leave.

Alvin described to Key Food’s attorney: “Waiting then basically he had said something, I had said something. Because he was waiting behind me. I was like, there's no reason for you to wait behind me. I don't know why you're waiting behind me, this that and the third. And then that was when me and him started going and exchanging words at the time.” According to Emad, he was telling Alvin to not come back to the store, based on the cursing.

Emad recalled the conversation to Alvin’s attorney, and recited the words he could remember: “The first thing [Alvin said] is, like, fuck you, and then I was, like, all right. I won't help you. And then he went to the register. He's, like, fuck you, you don't know who you're talking to, you don't know who the fuck you're talking with, I'll fucking punch you in the face right now and just went on. Later on his mom got involved and was, like, you don't know the family you're fucking with, you don't know us.”

According to Emad’s testimony, he walked out of the deli toward the cash registers at the front of the store where the door to exit is, to tell Alvin to leave. While Alvin was cursing, Alvin’s voice got louder, “to the top of his [Alvin’s] lungs,” said Emad, while Emad was telling Alvin to leave the store. Alvin proceeded to checkout with his mother at the cash register.

In Alvin’s testimony, he accused Emad of calling him a “faggot.” Alvin’s attorney asked Emad about it:

Alvin's Attorney: “Did you call Mr. Medina a fag or a faggot?”

Emad: “No.”

Alvin''s Attorney: “Is there anything about the way he was conducting himself or speaking that led you to believe that might be gay?”

Emad: “No. I didn't even know that.”

Emad wanted to call the police. He stated in the testimony: “When he was threatening me saying that he was going to punch me that's why I had to call the cops in order to have the cops deal with it... I was feeling threatened in the case of they're saying you don't know who our family is, that he's going to punch me or whatever so that's why I called the cops to get the cops involved and to have him be banned from the store.”

During his testimony, Mo Dabashi told the attorney why sometimes they have needed to call the police for an unruly customer in the past: “There are, you know, events like that, you know, where you would have to, you call the police because this guy is crazy or he's on drugs and not listening or --- you know, and you don't know what to do with them so you would have to call police.”

In a video of the cash register, Alvin can be seen standing at the register. He claps his hands, and turns to say words to Emad. “I'm not 100% sure of what he to the T,” Emad testified, “but it was cursing at the time I asked him to leave the store and he's not to come into the store.”

In Emad’s testimony, Alvin’s attorney confirmed that Alvin was gesturing and speaking in the surveillance video. Emad walked away toward the front office with the wood paneling at the front of the store, and told their accountant who was in the office, Barbara Malouf, to call the police, which she did.

According to Emad’s testimony, Alvin was muttering to himself saying “Oh, I'll punch this dude. I been here for four years.” And then Alvin’s mother allegedly got involved. As Alvin and his mother were leaving the store, Emad recalled the interaction: “He's saying things like you don't know who you're fucking with, you don't know our family, and she said the same type thing, don't fuck with us. She forgets her milk and then she comes back for it. As they were walking out the police car arrived.”

CHAPTER 3:
The Beacon Police Let The Customer Walk By In Parking Lot

Alvin remembered leaving after the groceries were bagged up, testifying: “After that, we left the store. We did see cop cars coming up as soon as we were leaving, but we just kept walking like nothing happened. She had her shopping cart. I was there with her and we walked and went home.” According to Alvin as clarified by Key Food’s attorney, the police did not follow him, or ask him to stay so that they could speak to him, or contact him later.

The Key Food surveillance cameras have video of two police cars pulling up as Alvin and his mother walked by them. This is established verbally in the depositions by Alvin’s attorney. A Little Beacon Blog has also verified these videos by watching them during an interview with Mo.

In an initial Police Report about both incidents (the second incident described later on), the officer writing the report, Trevor Wood (008) stated: "HQ advised units that the male inside the store was removed from the store earlier in the day and told not to return by the store owners. This agency was contacted about the previous incident and the male fled from the area prior to officers arrival." The report numbers for this report are BL-001734-20 CR-00232-20.

But according to video and his own testimony, he did not flee before officers arrived.

ALBB Editor’s Note: When this blogger wrote in her Letter to the Editor of the Highlands Current, objecting to the short, mike-drop style of their article describing this highly consequential situation which ignited a bush fire in the Beacon community toward Key Food, the editor, Chip Rowe, disputed what this blogger said about the police letting the customer “walk right by.” Chip said: “According to the police report, Medina had left by the time Beacon officers arrived; they didn’t “let him walk right by.”

As far as this blogger knows, there is no police report of this first arrival of the Beacon police, but there is a second one: BL-001734-20 CR-00232-20 which is perhaps Chip is referring to. ALBB asked Chip and reporter Jeff Simms which Police Report(s) they reported from, but they did not respond. Surveillance camera footage and Alvin and Emad’s testimony say that Alvin walked by the first police car to arrive. According to Emad, that officer told Emad there was nothing he could do, and that Emad would need to go to the police station to file a report.

In Alvin’s Police Report CR-00232-20 (also has a notation of CR-442-20 hand-written at the top) dated March 4th, 2020, he stated: “I then proceeded to leave the business with my mother and observe the Beacon Police arrive, but I was never stopped or approached by them.”

At Alvin’s attorney’s request, Emad describes the video of the police cars arriving: “This is when they were walking out. He left. His mom was still in the store and as she's walking out you'll see the police officer's car.” Emad comes out of the store, says hello to a taxi driver who is regularly there to pick up customers. Alvin’s attorney walks Emad through the video of the police:

Alvin’s Attorney: “Can you see if that's my client and pretty much right in front of the his mother police car? Are you able to tell that's them?”

Emad: “Yes.”

Alvin’s Attorney: “I'm going to zoom the video. This car just seems to roll by though and then you follow?”

Emad: “Yes.”

Alvin’s Attorney: “My client and his mother are walking away still?”

Emad: “Yes.”

Alvin’s Attorney: “I see it looks like a shadow, your shadow underneath that delivery truck and you're talking to the cop, I presume, at that point?”

Emad: “Yes.”

Captured in the deposition, Emad told the police officer what he needed: “I was telling him about the interaction with the customer, that he was cursing and threatening. I told him that I just wanted to ban him from the store so that he doesn't come back to the store. He said I can't do nothing about it. I would have to go to the police station and file a report.”

According to all involved, there was no followup by police after that. No one spoke to the customer to let him know that his behavior lost him privileges to return to the store. So far, no police report from this first call of the police has materialized in FOIL requests by A Little Beacon Blog, and cannot be found in court documents. A FOIL request did produce a Police Report of both incidents combined (BL-001734-20 CR-00232-20).

The customer’s attorney asked Emad about previous experiences with working with police to ban someone from the store. Emad answered: “The cops will come and take the person's information and they do the report but, I haven't asked a police officer or had to follow up with it regarding a ban.” Emad continued that usually Mo or JB follow up by talking with police officers.

The customer’s attorney followed up with more questions about the process of the police’s involvement with banning an unruly customer:

Alvin’s Attorney: “When he called [in the past] the police arrive on premises and they take some sort of report?”

Emad: “Yes.”

Alvin'’s Attorney: “And the information that's in the report you believe is what the name of whomever the person being banned might be?”

Emad: “Yes.”

Alvin’s Attorney: “Of a description of them?”

Emad: “Yes.”

Alvin’s Attorney: “Anything else?”

Emad: “That's it.”

The attorney asked if there was a list or bulletin board, and Emad answered that there was not. “They already know. You specifically tell the person you're not allowed to come into the store and usually that's where it ends unless they come again and that's when you contact the police station. It depends on how the situation was. If they called the police and filed a report right there and then with the officer and they're banned from the store and they come again you call the cops and they'll come and deal with it.”

The reason this is important is because the customer came back to the store 2 hours later after taking prescription medication and having at least one beer. It is during the second shopping event that the physical incident happened.

In terms of how employees know who is banned, Emad answered that the managers, Mo and JB know the circumstances behind each customer, and inform each other if there is a situation, which is rare. In this situation, when the attorney asked if Emad told Mo or JB about the customer he banned, Emad replied: “I don't think I did because I went back to work. I had a busy schedule that day so I went right back to work and forgot all about it, forgot about the situation.”

A Little Beacon Blog called and emailed Detective Sirrine for comment about how the police handle unruly customers at this store and other stores, but he did not respond.

Alvin’s attorney pursued Emad to ask: “Were you angry about what happened with yourself and Mr. Medina?”

Emad answered: “Not necessarily because I could say we do have customers but usually when you tell them you're -- The only thing is just going to the cop, calling the police officers thinking that they'll do something that's just the thing that -- you know -- it lets you down thinking that the cops will help you out or something like that. But other than that it really didn't bother me since he already left the store.”

CHAPTER 4:
The Dairy Isle

A couple of hours after the customer got back home, he said in his deposition that he realized he needed milk. His mother bought milk, as was discovered in the sequence of events earlier, but he needed his own milk. He told the attorney: “I noticed I didn't have milk and I probably wanted to get something else for the house. I went to the same supermarket because I figured it's already been a while later he probably wasn't there. And on top of that, it was a little dispute, it wasn't nothing crazy.”

The customer walked into the store. Emad was standing at the front of the store, at the end of the isles, in front of the checkout lines. Frequent shoppers of Key Food know that sometimes Emad or other store managers stand in that position to help shoppers flow through the checkout lines seamlessly. Usually this front section has people standing in line, or delivery carts are being rolled through to stock inventory. Upon entering the store, Alvin turned left through this area and walked past Emad, then turned up an isle to head to the dairy section, where the milk is in the back left corner of the store.

As a frequent shopper of Key Food, the easiest and most direct way of getting to the milk is by walking into the store and staying straight. Walking up through the produce section, turning left at the meat section, and then turning left for the last isle - the dairy isle. But that is not the direction the customer went.

Emad was standing in the front of the store by the registers when he saw Alvin enter. Alvin walked by Emad, according to both of their depositions. According to Emad, Alvin’s hand was in his left pocket, and remained there the entire time he was in the store, which made Emad nervous, thinking he had a weapon.

The customer's attorney asked Emad how that made him feel. Emad said: "I was confused because I had told him not to come back to the store but he was coming back. I told him as he was walking 'you're not allowed to come into the store' and he just proceeded to walk."

The attorney asked Emad how far away he was from Alvin. Emad answered: “I'm not sure if as he was coming I told him or as he passed me I told him but I did I did tell him you're not allowed to come into the store and he just proceeded to keep walking so I followed him. I let him know -- you know -- you're not allowed to come into the store and as we were walking towards the dairy I told Barbara to call the cops again.”

When Alvin described it to Key Food’s attorney, Alvin said: “At that time we weren't even flying with F bombs or nothing like that. He just came out and was like I don't want you here. I was like, I just came here for a half a gallon of milk.”

INFLUENCE OF DRUGS OR ALCOHOL

When asked by the attorney if he thought Alvin was under the influence of drugs or alcohol, Emad responded: “He did seem off. I don't know what he was on but he was on something...Just his face, his expression, everything. He just seemed off." The attorney asked Emad if he had ever seen Alvin before this day. Emad answered: "I seen him at the first interaction and in the first interaction he was loud and talkative. The second time the guy was calm. He didn't say much. His eyes were close to shut. Even his body language was just, it wasn't okay. He seemed to be on something.”

Alvin’s attorney asked Emad if he was trained in identifying people who were under the influence of drugs or alcohol. Emad answered that he was not trained, but had seen it many times. According to the Police Report: "Officers attempted to interview ___ on what occurred but had a difficult time understanding ___ due to his speech and appearing to be under the influence of alcohol."

In his deposition, Alvin told the attorney that he had consumed at least 1 beer (Heineken) before returning to the store, and had “probably” taken his prescription medication for depression (Wellbutrin), and prescription medication for blood pressure, (Amlodipine). He could not recall if he had also had a beer before the first time he grocery shopped with his mother hours prior.

When asked by Emad’s attorney if he had taken any other prescription medications that afternoon, Alvin responded: "Well, definitely I didn't take Ambient because I would have been asleep, not at the store and my Xanax."

INTO THE DAIRY ISLE

Further into questioning, the customer’s attorney asked Emad if he had to stop following the customer at any point. Emad answered that the did, in order to tell Barbara to call the police. Barbara was in the front office where she usually is. Mo was also in the office and heard what was going on. According to the deposition, Mo asked Emad what was up, and Emad told him that the customer was back in the store.

Emad picked back up to find the customer in the dairy isle, knowing the police were on their way, but kept a distance. He feared there was a weapon in Alvin’s pocket, stating: “His hand was in his pocket so I didn't know if he had anything in his pocket. So the whole time that hand was always in his pocket, his left hand was in his pocket.”

Emad told the attorney that he continued following the customer to make sure he did not damage anything, and to continue telling him he was not allowed in the store. According to a police report CR-00238-20 filed by JB the next day, after JB was told by Emad and Mo about what happened, the customer allegedly knocked down a display on his way to or through the dairy section.

However, the detective allegedly disregarded that police report days later, saying he couldn’t see the damage in the video, as you’ll read further on in this article. However, in the initial Police Report BL-001734-20 CR-00232-20 by the officer: "Officers did observe multiple grocery items damaged and on the floor of Keyfoods aisle.

In Emad’s deposition, Alvin’s attorney asked him if Alvin had knocked down any displays or picked up any other items. Emad answered that Alvin had not. However, in the video, Emad was holding bags of snacks that Mo says Emad did pick up from Alvin, or that Alvin had dropped to the ground. Emad can be seen dropping the snacks before he approaches Alvin in the final seconds of the video.

As Emad and Alvin were headed down the dairy isle, out of view of the video footage, Mo walked into the dairy isle to try to talk to the customer.

Another employee was also in the deli isle: Willy Cole. Frequent shoppers of Key Food know that Willy often worked in the deli isle, stocking the shelves, arranging items, and checking for expiration dates. At any given moment on any given day Willy could often be found in the deli isle.

However, the customer saw that differently. Alvin told his attorney in his deposition: “So I proceeded down the milk aisle to go grab my milk. And I grabbed the milk. I was going to pay for it, all you know, I have him behind me, the one with the long hair [aka Mo] on the right-hand side of me trying to grab the milk out of my hand and the other guy that was hiding behind the potato chips [aka Willy].”

FEELINGS OF THREATS MADE BY THE CUSTOMER

In his deposition, Mo recalled those early seconds in the dairy isle, where he walked from the front office to the dairy isle: “Emad came and told me that he [Alvin] was back and we went about and we were going to call the police. So we told Barbara to call the police and then I wanted to talk to him [Alvin] to try to see if --- you know, if he would talk to me instead of my brother and if he would just leave with --- in peace. And he would not listen to me, he was just trying to walk through me, and, you know, [saying things] like you can't talk to me, you can't tell me what to do, I'll do whatever I want to do.”

Emad recalled the seconds as well in his deposition. All depositions were taken individually, with no one hearing each other. Emad said: "He [Alvin] just kept on pushing his way through." The attorney asked Emad to clarify the pushing: "Not pushing him [Mo] to the side but kept on going forward even though Mo was standing in front of him."

According to his deposition, Mo tried appealing to Alvin again: “I told him that, like, we don't want your service, can you just --- can we talk. He would not --- he would not want to talk to me. I said, listen, you know, you had an argument with my brother, we do not want your service here. You know, you said what you said, and we don't appreciate it. We are calling the police right now, and we need you to get out. And he would not, he was just walking through me.”

The customer’s attorney asked Mo about Willy, who was in the dairy isle. Mo responded: “Willy was working, he was nothing to do with it. He's clearly working right there.”

Once everyone got into view of the security camera, the final action of this whole day was captured in 20 seconds. Emad testified that he did not hear Alvin talking, but Mo testified that he did. The Highlands Current in his response to this blogger’s Letter to the Editor called that testimony “conflicting.” The newspaper editor said to this blogger: “The Dabashi brothers offered conflicting statements in their depositions as to whether Medina said anything to them when he returned to the store."

The Highlands Current editor may have missed this statement in Emad’s testimony, on page 83 of just Emad’s testimony (page 364 of the court documents that the newspaper has): Emad recalled: “Mostly the encounter at that time talking with each other was Mo and Mr. Medina.”

Alvin can be seen talking in the video. He is saying something to them, even if Emad could not hear it, but Mo did. Alvin can be seen talking in the video.

In term of safety, Alvin’s attorney asked Emad: “Did you believe that he might have had some sort of weapon?” Emad answered: “Yes. I'm not 100% sure if he had something in his pocket, something dangerous, I wasn't sure.”

THE SLAMMING OF THE MILK

Alvin the customer was sharing the video of his take down two years after it happened, and within the same month as signing the settlement for his $95,000 payout. This photo shows Alvin winding up to slam the milk to the floor, where it exploded

When Mo was trying to appeal to Alvin to leave the store, Mo reached in to take the milk from Alvin. In his deposition, Alvin recalled: “So basically, as I'm trying to walk to the cash register just to go pay for my milk -- that's all I wanted to do was pay for my milk -- is when the one with the long hair [aka Mo] grabs my hand to get the milk out of my hand. That's when I tossed the milk to the side, didn't toss it at anyone, just tossed it to the side.”

In the video, Alvin can be seen snapping the milk across his chest in a wind-up, raising it above his head, and then slamming it to the ground, where it exploded. Mo can be seen backing away, while Willy is taking a drink of something he opened from the dairy isle. After Alivin threw the milk to the floor with a lot of force, the milk exploded. This is when Emad grabbed Alvin from behind and put Alvin to the ground.

THE TAKEDOWN

Alvin’s attorney asked Emad what he hoped to accomplish by throwing Alvin to the floor: “Not getting attacked with anything coming out of his pocket,” Emad responded. “My brother getting hurt or anything like that.”

Said Mo of that moment: “We didn't know what he was going to do, so with my brother trying to, you know, protect me or he thought he was going to take out something or anything like that, so he took him down.”

Emad walked away from the scene, and the 20 second video ends. What is not shown, but is described in Emad’s deposition, is Emad leaving the frame to get the police. Just before police arrived, Emad went back check on Alvin. Emad recalled: “He had gotten up. He stumbled a couple of times, dropped the Rice Crispy's and then I assisted him to sit onto the dairy cooler and told him to stay there.” The police arrived 2 minutes later, Emad said. The Rice Crispy’s were a snack that Alvin picked up.

Alvin’s attorney proceeded to again try to paint a picture of 3 against 1 in this situation, with Willy as the third. For those just seeing the 20 second video, and for those seeing the single photo in the Highlands Current, the public wrote their own story of Willy’s involvement.

Alvin’s Attorney: “So in the video of the actual incident it's you, your brother, and Willy all standing around or near Mr. Medina, three against one, right?”

Emad: “Willy wasn't in the picture to begin with. Willy was way out of the picture. He wasn't standing around him. He wasn't getting involved. He wasn't doing anything.”

Alvin’s Attorney: “But he was present?”

Emad: “Present doesn't mean you're involved.”

After Alvin was on the ground, Willy seemed to say something to Alvin and walk away.

FEELINGS AFTER IT ALL

Alvin's attorney then posed a different kind of question to Emad: "Do you think that he got what he deserved for what he did to you and your brother?"

Emad answered: "Not for what he did but for what to expect. I didn't know what to expect especially during the first interaction being threatened and saying about his family, we don't know who his family is and stuff like that so I didn't know what to expect and plus his hand was in his pocket so I wasn't 100% sure so I needed to do something.”

THE GUILTY PLEA

While the Highlands Current article said that Emad “conceded” to his plea, there is more to Emad’s feelings on his plea. The attorney asked Emad if he plead voluntarily. Emad answered: “Yes. With the advice of my counsel. I mean if it was for me I wouldn't just volunteer for that. I would have just kept on going but with my assisting counsel at the time that was advised.”

The attorney pressed on, asking Emad why he didn’t want to plead guilty. Emad answered: “Because I felt like it was self-defense defending me and my brother and the video just shows me hitting him on the floor and not knowing the background of the whole situation and threatening.”

Alvin’s attorney continued with his questioning of Emad’s plea, asking him if the judge asked him “a bunch of other questions” similar to this deposition setting. Emad answered that the judge did not ask bunches of questions, and just wanted to hear the story. So Emad told him the story. The guilty plea meant that Emad gave up his right to a trial by jury, and that Emad’s attorney could have cross-examined Alvin, to ask Alvin bunches of questions, but did not because of the guilty plea.

Alvin’s attorney continued on with the implications of the guilty plea questioning:

Alvin's Attorney: "Did he ask you if you were pleading guilty to this misdemeanor assault because you were, indeed, guilty of doing that?"

Emad: "Saying that I applied excessive force and that's the reason why I was guilty."

Alvin's Attorney: "And you agreed to that?"

Emad: "I agreed with it to resolve the case."

Alvin's Attorney: “But did you mean it?”

Emad: "Yes."

Alvin's Attorney: "But you do understand that you could have went forward with the case and had that trial and given the testimony and if you chose to present the self-defense or justification defense to everything that's shown in the video, right, you know you could have done that?"

Emad: "Yes. But I just seen the video and everyone doesn't see it that way." This was the only quote the Highlands Current included in the conclusion of their article. The newspaper then used a quote from Junior Dabashi that Junior changed his mind on and asked them not to include, but according to Junior, the editor Chip Rowe said that the editor insisted on using it.

CHAPTER 5:
The Police Were Allegedly Divided About Their Own Response

Mo was hesitant to go on the record about the police’s response as to how the first incident with Alvin’s alleged verbal abuse was handled, when the Beacon police drove up, Alvin walked by, Emad pointed to him, and the officer did not speak to Alvin.

Even though he was afraid of further abandonment by the police, Mo decided to go on the record with A Little Beacon Blog about this part of the story: “The police were divided over how the first officer handled it,” Mo told ALBB. “The two detectives involved in the case were Brian Lawrence and James Sirrine. We were so cooperative with Brian and showed him all clips needed and he was on our side in the case. Then he turned against us, where James was very helpful and supporting us the whole time. James Sirrine was the one that told us that the police department was divided in the case. Some were saying that the police officer who showed up the first time should have did something and some didn’t care that they thought it was a wrong reaction by my brother and doesn’t want to hear anything else.”

At that time, the Police Chief was Kevin Junjulas. He and Captain Fredericks retired months later in June after the racial reawakening started and organizers marched down Main Street in Beacon all summer. Police Chief Sands Frost stepped in to be the Acting Chief, and after a lengthy process with much considerations given, Chief Frost was selected by Beacon’s Police Chief Search Committee. This was also before the time that Beacon hired a Mental Health Professional, Lashaveous Dicker, to go out on calls with Beacon Police. Chief Frost and longtime Lieutenant Tom Figlia have been working to improve relations with the community ever since.

CHAPTER 6:
Police Take Report From Key Food’s Co-Owner JB Said To Press Charges; It Is Thrown Out; Instead, Emad Is Arrested

The day after the incident, the Key Food Beacon franchise co-owner JB Said went down to the police station to file a Police Report against Alvin Medina, which is filed as CR-00238-20, Blotter No. BL-001734-20. The report states that the detective taking the information about Alvin’s actions, Detective James Sirrine, “completed an arrest warrant for Criminal Tampering 3rd and filed it with the court.”

While JB was not at the store that day, Mo and Emad told him what happened. On their behalf, JB reported: “When [customer] was turned away from the deli he became verbally abusive towards his staff, and began calling them profanities and terrorists. Said states that [customer] then intentionally knocked over several displays of merchandise at the back of the store, causing a large mess inside the store. [Customer] made threats to harm [redacted] and his staff.”

In his deposition, JB told Alvin’s attorney: “He said that --- starting from the incident at the salads he started saying fuck you, mother fuckers, you fucking ‘A-rabs,’ such and such, and he started throwing the middle finger in his face, you know, like when you --- at the clerk in the deli. And Emad told me he's going to fuck you up, you don't know who the fuck we are, fuck you, mother fucking ‘A-rabs.’

JB continued in his testimony for the lawsuit: “He just kept on cursing and cursing over and over. It wasn't the staff cursing. And then I asked --- I made sure to ask Emad did you say anything back and he said I didn't curse back at him or nothing like that, I just told him I don't want his business and that was it, end of conversation. And I don't remember to the T because I wasn't there. I'm just going off what everybody is telling me, what Emad is telling me on that stuff.”

In order to clarify JB’s recollection in his deposition, Alvin’s attorney asked JB if he had watched the video before filing the police report. “The second I understood there was a situation I first thought where they fought was next to the milk, next to the milk is all the way in the back of the store. The video that you showed me is in the front already leaving the aisle, the milk section is all the way in the back. So to my understanding I thought the situation happened there, not in the front. You know, that's why I was thinking the displays or wherever the fight happened was in the back.”

Later, the Police Report that JB filed was withdrawn, or canceled, according to JB. Alvin’s attorney asked JB: “Did there come a time where you withdrew your complaint against Mr. Medina?” The attorney rephrased the question, and asked why Mo did not file the complaint.

JB answered: “Because I thought it was the right thing to do because the situation of what happened. I mean, it's my location, my store. I'm --- most of the managers there is me, I'm always there all the time, so I wanted to do something for the guy that caused us so much problems in the store.”

Alvin’s attorney asked JB if Emad said he felt disrespected. JB recalled: “Not that I know of. He never said the word disrespected, he just said --- he explained it to me as Mr. Medina wasn't--- if he was on some --- that he was drinking or on some kind of drug of some sort. That's what I understood, that he was telling me that the guy was not right at all…On the second encounter he [Emad] was telling me that, that he [Alvin] was definitely on something and it looked like he was coming back just for trouble.”

Alvin’s attorney returned to questioning about the Police Report and JB’s filing of charges. He asked: “Was he [the officer] upset with you when he returned to speak to you?”

JB: “Who, the police officer?”

Alvin’s Attorney: “Yes.”

JB: “No. Why would he be upset with me?”

Alvin’s Attorney: “I was just asking. Did he say anything along the lines of that would be interpreted or construed as questioning your veracity; do you understand what I mean?”

JB: “No, I don't understand. Veracity meaning what exactly?"

Alvin’s Attorney: “I will make it very plain for you. Did he tell you that he thought you were lying or making stuff up the second time he talked to you?"

JB: “The second time I think he talked to me he was explaining to me that he didn't see anything on the camera and I was explaining to him that I was going off what Emad and Moufaq and everybody was explaining to me about the situation and what happened."

Alvin’s Attorney: “And did you stand firm with what you shared with him the first time?"

JB: “Yeah, I explained to him the situation, but he was saying it wasn't credible because the camera system doesn't show that, doesn't show the situation."

Alvin’s Attorney: “So he told you he didn't believe you? Did he say it like that or did he say it the way you just said it ---"

JB: "Yeah, he said it was incredible."

Alvin’ Attorney: "Yeah, well, what did you think of it, what did you think about that?"

JB: “It is what it is. The proof is the proof, you need to see what's in front of you to actually, you know, consider truth."

Alvin’s Attorney: "Did you still believe you were telling the truth?"

JB: Yeah, "I believed I was explaining the situation like it was, but to my understanding, I wasn't a hundred percent accurate with the conversation because I wasn't at the scene, scene of the crime."

Alvin’s Attorney: "Did he tell you after that conversation, that one we're talking about right now, that he was pulling the warrant or withdrawing the criminal charges you wanted to press or something like that?"

JB: "Yes, he was telling me that because he said it wasn't credible enough, there wasn't enough proof to show everything that was going on that we said was going on."

Alvin’s Attorney: "How did that make you feel?"

JB: “I mean, it was okay. It is what it is. I mean, we've got to go with what we see, wheat's in front of us. What can be proven, put it like that. Whatever can be proven is what it should be."

In the Beacon Police Report dated 3/3/2020 22:19 by Wood, Trevor (008), identified as BL - 001734-20 CR-00232-20, police officers did see damaged property. The report stated: “Officers did observe multiple grocery items damaged and on the floor of Keyfoods aisle.” It is not clear why the Detective did not consider this observation made by officers in the earlier Police Report, when he allegedly told JB that damaged displays or groceries were not in the video footage, so did not seem to matter.

CHAPTER 7: A CLOSER LISTEN
Why Being Called “Terrorist” Wasn’t “Heard” In Testimony

After first learning about the incident and later lawsuit in the article in the Highlands Current, this blogger went to Key Food to get a better understanding of what happened. The newspaper article was short, the photo and video only showed the most graphic, heated moments of a much longer story. Both Mo and JB said that the customer had used racial insults that day.

Based on my interview the day after the newspaper article dropped, my first Letter to the Editor to the Highlands Current, I stated that the customer had used Islamaphobic insults. The newspaper’s editor, Chip Rowe, suggested I read the court documents before he published my letter. At my request, Chip emailed the court documents he and his reporter used.

In the court documents, when Mo and Emad were questioned separately by Alvin’s attorney about if Alvin called them “terrorists,” both Mo and Emad answered that he did not. In fact, the customer’s attorney asked Emad several times if Emad felt disrespected. Each time, Emad answered that he did not. Emad expanded: “Why would you feel disrespected if you get into an encounter like that. I didn't think I was disrespected.”

Puzzled, I returned to Key Food Beacon to ask Mo why both he and Emad denied that Alvin called them “terrorists”, if their memories remembered Alvin saying that. It was an uncomfortable question to ask Mo, but he responded quietly: “I don’t hear it anymore. In Oakland, CA, that was chaos.” Mo used to work in bodegas in Oakland before moving to Beacon, NY, as he described to Alvin’s attorney in his deposition. “I know who I am, and I know what they say to me is not true. I am an Imam at the mosque [Masjid Ar Rashid – Islamic Teaching Center] down the street. When I am outside, people yell to me: ‘Go home!’ But I am home.”

Mo continued: “If someone tells me they are going to punch me in the face, I will remember that. That tells me that I should duck; that something might happen to me right now.”

Despite stating that he had shopped at Key Food for several years, Alvin stated and implied several times that he did not know the management at Key Food, who is quite visible both behind and in front of the counter. He referred to them as “the one with the long hair” and other visual indicators. Alvin made it clear in his deposition: “I never paid much attention to the employees there, besides the one with the long hair.”

However, in his Police Report days after the incident to file charges against Emad, Alvin identified him as: “the male employee described as being Middle Eastern with a long beard about 30 years of age.” These were more precise details when Alvin was pursuing Emad’s arrested.

“At first, [Detective] Brian said ‘we are with you guys.’ But when he had us down to the station,” Mo recalled to ALBB, after the police invited Emad down to talk about more details, “he [Detective Brian Lawrence] was a different person.”

CHAPTER 8:
Alvin’s Recollection Of What Police Told Him About Emad

According to JB’s testimony, his Police Report to press charges against Alvin got withdrawn. After Alvin filed a Police Report of his own after he got out of the hospital, the police called Emad to come down to the station to answer a few more questions, JB told ALBB in an interview. When they arrived at the police station, Emad was arrested.

According to Alvin’s own testimony, the police had feelings about who was wrong, and seemed to be basing it on the 20 seconds of the video clip, without questioning others. ALBB has reached out to both detectives for their response to how they handled this, but neither have responded. They forwarded ALBB’s request to Beacon’s City Administrator Chris White, who also did not respond.

Alvin stated in his testimony: "I went to the police station to actually make a report, the police officer that was there -- I went there by myself at nighttime, which was hard enough to even walk over there, but that police officer told me, if I were to make a report, they would have to arrest me then go and get the guy."

At the time, JB’s Police Report was active, and the arrest warrant for Alvin was open.

"First thing the detective said before he started the report he was like, Alvin, I don't care what you went there for, what happened at that supermarket, from what we saw in this video, it wasn't fair what they did to you. When you went to the police station two days after, did you make a report? I didn't even get to report because he said if I filed a report, he would have to arrest me then he'll have to go and arrest the guy."

Alvin's Attorney: “So then, do you know how it came about that two days after that detectives contacted you?”

Alvin: “That's when the detectives just contacted me and then they asked me if I was able to make it to the station.”

Alvin's Attorney: “Did you fill out any paperwork with the police?”

Alvin: “Yes, after the detectives came and picked me up, yes, that's when we made the report.”

Alvin's Attorney: “If you didn't make a report that night, two days after you left the hospital, how did the police know what happened?”

Alvin: “I guess from when they went to the supermarket.”

Alvin's Attorney: “And do you know that they went to the supermarket?”

Alvin: “I'm guessing so.”

ALBB emailed both detectives to verify what Alvin said in his testimony. Leutenant Figlia responded with a reminder that as of 12/23/2021, all of ALBB’s questions for the Police Department need to go through City Administrator Chris White. The City Administrator then did not respond.

Chapter 9:
The Restraining Order

After the incident, JB pursued a restraining order against Alvin Medina. The restraining order was granted in Beacon City Court from Judge Timothy Pagones, who was City Court Judge back then. Alvin needs to walk on the opposite side of the street from Key Food when he passes that property.

The COVID-19 pandemic was declared days after this incident. Over the next two years, this lawsuit traveled through its process. Emad went through his court experience pleading guilty to the charge Alvin filed, and later on, all four people gave their depositions. The two parties settled in mediation, and agreed on March 15, 2022 to end the lawsuit for a payment of $95,000.

According to Alvin’s deposition, all of his medical bills had been paid already prior to the lawsuit settling by his Medicare Insurance 1199 Aetna, with the exception of the Beacon Ambulance Corps bill, which he was still submitting.

After the Stipulation of Discontinuance With Prejudice was signed on March 15, 2022, which stated that the lawsuit wa discontinued because a payment was on the way, Alvin began sharing the 20 second video in his video, accusing Key Food Beacon of being homophobic. Alvin riled up his friends, and didn’t seem to tell them in social media that he had already pursued a lawsuit and was awareded $95,000. Alvin let his friends tell him to sue Key Food Beacon.

Last month, Alvin also called Key Food Beacon “dirty,” which again, is an Arab racial insult, as described above. He continued to verbally assult and abuse Key Food Beacon. Which is what started this whole thing.

The end.

RELATED ARTICLES IN THIS SERIES

Last Days To Donate Grocery List To "Turkey On Every Table" From Key Food, Salem Tabernacle, I Am Beacon

The “Turkey on Every Table” initiative from I Am Beacon, Key Food, and Salem Tabernacle has opened for collection again, hoping to reach families as it did last year. Created in 2014 by I Am Beacon, the three organizations came together last year during the pandemic when soup kitchens could not operate, and pre-packaged and delivered bags of dinner meals for people to cook.

Said Ginger Dandreano, Administrative Assistant for Salem Tabernacle when ALBB asked how the distribution will work: “All the food will come already packaged in a grocery bag. The idea is to make this as easy for people as possible, especially for those who may be walking. The bag will consist of a full Thanksgiving dinner.”

Pickup points will be Salem Tabernacle (7 Delavan Ave), Open Arms Food Pantry (based at Beacon’s Recreation Department at 25 Center Street) in Beacon, NY.

How The Organizations Coordinate The Food Giving

Ginger elaborated to ALBB: “The turkeys are being purchased by Salem Tabernacle. Salem Tabernacle does a yearly fundraiser that raises money for this outreach. So far this year, $5,000 has been raised. Key Food in Beacon also contributes with a fundraiser that helps offset the cost. Salem Tabernacle purchases the food from Key Food at cost. I Am Beacon also promotes the Key Food fundraiser and creates awareness amongst the community. I Am Beacon also has provided the connections with Open Arms Food Pantry and St. Andrews. Key Food is a generous, community oriented store that makes this complicated process much easier. They get the food at cost and also refrigerate the food up until the day of distribution. I Am Beacon and Key Food truly make this possible.”

How People In Need Can Sign Up For The Thanksgiving Dinner

Thanksgiving Dinner Signup at Salem Tabernacle.

Families or Friends can call Salem Tabernacle at 845-831-0114 Mon-Th from 10am-3:30pm. They can also go to www.salemtabernacle.com and follow the prompts to sign up (or click here directly). You can sign up yourself or sign up a family in need. Available while supplies last, but you must sign up. Their goal is to feed 100 families this year.

This year the drive is heating up again, with collections being made at Key Food at checkout. You can specify that your donation of food or cash/credit card be for this project at the checkout counter. Volunteer opportunities are available with Salem Tabernacle for those looking to pack bags, deliver them to destinations, and facilitate getting them into hands.

Requested Items Include:

Peanut Butter Jars, Jelly Jars, 16-Pack hot Chocolate Mixes, Canned Yams, Mac and Cheese Boxes, Stuffing Boxes, 1LB Rice Bags, 14OZ Canned Vegetables, 3LB Apple Bags, Baked Pies, Reusable Grocery Bags

People Working With The Organizations

I Am Beacon is run by brother and sister Rueben Simmons, Brook Simmons, and Brandon Lillard. Open Arms Food Pantry is managed by Kenya Gadsen, who served on Beacon’s Board of Education years ago and was of the few Black board members serving. Kenya moved to Fishkill, and currently serves as an elected Councilwoman for the Town of Fishkill. Key Food is a franchise run by the Dabashi and Said families.

Anonymous Donor Donates $1,000 In Key Food Gift Cards By Way Of Local Non-Profits and School District

According to a press release from the City of Beacon, Mayor Lee Kyriacou announced that the City of Beacon – as a result of an anonymous donation – is distributing over $1,000 in Key Food Gift Cards by way of various local non-profit groups and the Beacon City School District.

The gift cards, issued at Beacon’s Key Food grocery store, will be redistributed to local families going through financial difficulties during the current health crisis and economic downturn. The city was able to provide gift cards to local religious institutions, non-profit groups and the Beacon City School District.

Mayor Lee Kyriacou said, “From the bottom of my heart, I want to thank the generous Beacon resident who sought anonymously to help others during these unpredictable economic times. Many families are in need of this donation and I am happy that the City of Beacon could assist.”

Pastor John Perez from the Faith Temple Church of God in Christ, whose church is located on North Cedar Street, said: “In these difficult times, it is truly a blessing for those in need.”

For those who need to visit a Food Pantry, find a guide at A Little Beacon Blog’s Food Pantry Guide.

Very Much Loved Rita Lynn Baylis Spicer, Cashier At Key Food, Passes

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Many of you knew Rita from Key Food Beacon, who was a caring cashier for many years who completed your day at Key Food. Our last interaction with her was just days before her passing when she offered to let our little one scan his snack out to check himself out. Rita was always caring like that. Always knew what the weather would be. Always could read the mood for the day.

Rita’s passing was sudden, and Key Food published words of loss for Rita on their Junior Zayed’s Instagram, and created a prayer note on the plastic dividers at checkout.

From Key Food:
”It is with great sadness and heavy hearts that we must share the sad news of the sudden passing of our great friend and our loving sister Rita Baylis Spicer. She was a great cashier, a great coworker, a great friend and most importantly a great human being. Working at Key Food in Beacon for so many years, she was loved by all who worked with her through out the years and loved by the great community of Beacon. She became a friend to everyone who came to shop and she became one of our family members. Always greeting friends and customers with a wide big beautiful and unforgettable smile. We are still in shock and still in disbelief. Our thoughts and prayers are with her mom, sisters, daughters and all her family and loved ones. May you rest in paradise, WE LOVE YOU SO MUCH!!”

The Plastic Bag Ban Is Real - How's It Going?

Photo Credit: Brianne McDowell

Photo Credit: Brianne McDowell

Just last month, it used to be hipsterish to carry your tote bags to a grocery store. Forget about pulling them out at any other type of store, like a gas station, Rite Aid, or big-box store. You would just look plum “alternative” if you did (not that there’s anything wrong with that). Plenty of people carried the tote bags with pride, and showed off their tote bag collections from different magazines and brands they love, while others sometimes remembered to bring their totes stored in their cars. Now, thanks to the statewide ban on the single-use plastic bag (those plastic bags you see whipping around roads and catching on trees), everyone is carrying whatever bags they can remember into stores. Or maybe they are still carrying nothing at all.

“My husband came home the other night with groceries falling out of his arms,” recalled one Beacon resident. “Now he is trying to remember to bring the reusable bags in the car.” Common stories include people forgetting their reusable bags stashed in the car, only to dash out of the store to quickly grab them. Grocery stores like Key Food are making the paper and plastic reusable tote bags available at checkout. New York did not require stores to charge for the paper bags, as a deterrent to using any single-use bag, but many stores are charging 5 cents for the paper, and another rate for the reusable plastic tote. Key Food is charging 5 cents for their paper bags, and 99 cents for their reusable plastic bag, while Stop and Shop in Poughkeepsie is charging $2.50 for their reusable plastic bag. Beacon Natural is charging 5 cents for the paper bags, and does sell their cloth tote bag for $10, but has flash sales for $3.99 from time to time.

According to an article in the Poughkeepsie Journal, the cost of paper bags to a retail shop has increased. Nicole Wronga, owner of Simplicity, a consignment store, told the newspaper that the cost of 250 paper bags has increased from $42.50 to $47.50 (that equals 19 cents per paper bag, so even selling it at 5 cents is a loss for some who don’t order in huge bulk). It has caused Nicole to begin charging 5 cents for a paper bag, with 3 cents being donated to the state environmental budget, to encourage customers to bring their own bag.

Over here at A Little Beacon Blog, we sell tote bags, and now with the flooded market of totes (because we all need them), the price you might pay just plummeted. So, it costs us $7.50 to produce the bags locally in Newburgh, and we’re charging $10 right now.

BYO Bag - Bring Your Own Bag

New York State is branding this ban as BYO Bag (Bring Your Own Bag). Do you remember back in the 1990s, when the giant yellow plastic bags with blue handles were the rage? They were so giant, hardly anyone could really carry a full one. They equaled about three paper bags of groceries. Typically associated with Ikea bags, but sometimes sold by the Girl Scouts at grocery stores to encourage people not to use paper bags. The reusable bag has been tried before, but now it’s officially locked in. At least we know that paper bags are recyclable, but only if they are 100% dry, clean, and not wet with food.

Are Plastic Bags Of Any Kind The Answer?

Dutchess County uses about 100 million single-use plastic bags per year, according to the county legislature. In New York State, about 23 billion plastic bags are used each year. Year. That’s a lot of bags. Nick Wise, a shopper at Target who was quoted in the Poughkeepsie Journal, is from London, where the bag ban was phased in 10 years ago. From that ban, he experienced reusable plastic bags going to waste. With one of his reusable plastic bags already having a rip: “I know I can reuse them as much as I can, but they are going to end in the garbage at some point,” Nick told the Journal.

When word was coming down of the plastic bag ban, some retailers didn’t believe it would happen. And then Marc Molinaro, County Executive for Dutchess County, signed it into law in December 2018. Dutchess County’s ban went into effect January 1, 2020. Ulster County’s County Executive signed theirs into law in October 2018, while Suffolk County added a 5 cent charge to single-use plastic and paper bags in January 2018. And then New York State brought it all down with a state ban, set to go into effect in March 2020, which will eventually make it all less confusing. No single-use plastic bags anywhere in the state.

Plastic Bags In Trees, In Streets, In Recycling

Recycling executives have cited plastic bags as one of the most disruptive contaminants to their recycling production, which adds to the taxpayer cost of recycling in Beacon. During a 2018 presentation from Beacon’s recycling facility, ReCommunity (acquired by Republic Services), Steve Hastings explained to the City Council about how the single-use plastic bags are one of the biggest disruptors to their production, when they get loose and float up and get stuck in the machines.

A year after Suffolk County’s plastic bag ban, a study released revealed that 1.1 billion fewer plastic bags were used in the county since that ban, and the number of bags found polluting shorelines fell steeply compared with 2017, as reported by Newsday.

How The Plastic Ban Works For Retailers

You can read all about the plastic bag ban rules for Dutchess County here in this legislative resolution (aka law). Retailers or wholesalers who are engaged in the sale of personal, consumer, or household items must stop providing the single-use plastic bags. Paper bags that are provided must be 100% recyclable, be made from at least 40% recyclable material, and display the word “Recyclable” on the front.

Retailers could be fined $100 for their first violation, $250 for their second violation, and $500 for their third violation, and violations thereafter.

So how about getting more cloth tote bags? A Little Beacon Blog and Antalek & Moore have got some for you! :)

Trade Us A Plastic Bag For An ALBB Tote Bag At Back To School Block Party

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This Saturday is the 5th Annual Back To School Block Party and School Supply Drive from I Am Beacon, in partnership with Key Food at the South Avenue Park, just up the hill from the basketball courts and Beacon Dental. There will be games, food, music, and basketball!

A Little Beacon Blog will also be there, and wants to trade you one of our tote bags for a plastic bag! While supplies last (we have 19!), you can have a free tote bag when you bring one plastic bag. One tote bag per person. We’ll collect the plastic bags and stuff them into the plastic bag collection bin at Key Food.

Plastic bags don’t go into home recycling cans because they float around the recycling center and get into the machines, causing major problems. Start carrying a collection of totes, and skip the plastic bag - from anywhere! It’s a tricky habit to start when you’re in a restaurant or a store, and pulling out a tote bag isn’t commonplace. Or if you’re in Walmart with those rotating wheels of plastic bags. But give it a try!

Free tote bags for the first 19 plastic bag trades, and then we’ll have them on sale for $10 (normally $18 on this website).

See you soon!

It's Ready! New Deli Open At Key Food, Serving Buffalo Wings - And Did You Notice The New Parking Lot?

Left: The new deli, with all your favorite cheese and spread options back in the case.  Right: The new parking lot, with arrows to help keep people moving in the right direction. Photo Credits: Katie Hellmuth Martin

Left: The new deli, with all your favorite cheese and spread options back in the case.
Right: The new parking lot, with arrows to help keep people moving in the right direction.
Photo Credits: Katie Hellmuth Martin

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You’ve walked through the doors of construction at Key Food.

You’ve walked around the usual checkout line to exit when new or moved walls were going up.

You’ve wondered what is going on behind the wall with all of the banging, and you heard that it was a new, bigger deli.

And now, the new deli is here and open! The team at Key Food has been scampering around, climbing onto the roof to hook things up and connect everything just so in order to bring Beaconites more food options for those who want to eat and run, or just eat and not cook.

The deli grew longer, a hooded kitchen was added to the back of it, and the crew is already cooking their own original Buffalo wings made in a secret sauce. Key Food is currently hiring looking to expand the deli staff!

This isn’t the first mega project the folks at Key Food have undertaken. Jb Said opened the Craft Beer Shoppe right next door, Junior and Co. opened Beacon International across the street, and the Smoke Shop and More was an addition as well.

What’s For Lunch/Dinner?

Buffalo wings at Key Food in their secret sauce. Blue cheese dressing available on the shelf nearby.

Buffalo wings at Key Food in their secret sauce. Blue cheese dressing available on the shelf nearby.

Hot prepared meals fill the warming rack at Key Food starting at about 12:30 pm. You can still get fresh rotisserie chicken that is cooked behind the deli counter, and now you can also get Buffalo wings in a secret sauce, chicken tenders, fried chicken, and a lot of other chicken options. Bottles of blue cheese dressing are conveniently located in the aisles of the store. You can keep an entire bottle back at your office fridge. No more worrying about asking for extra blue cheese and hoping it made it into the bag.

Sides are available, like crunchy broccoli salad, tabbouleh, potato salad, and other staples. Sandwich-wise, you can get egg salad, tuna salad, and of course, sliced meat sandwiches. Soon, the grill will be on and you’ll be able to get hot sandwiches. The menu is currently being taste-tested before becoming public.

Catering From Key Food

In addition to the new hot foods lining the case, Key Food Beacon has been quietly catering, working out their systems on friends and family in order to bring catering to you. Consider it in a soft beta launch for now. Foods like sesame chicken with broccoli and Middle Eastern chicken on Spanish rice were big hits, and make it into the rotation of take-out lunch items on the hot shelf. Watch their Facebook page for announcements, but better yet, come in to see what’s up. Don’t wait for digital! Show up for food.

New Helpful Arrows In Key Food Parking Lot

Our office here at A Little Beacon Blog is right across the street from Key Food. We sit at one of the trickier intersections on Main Street. There are worse intersections, but this one is pretty active with illegal U-turns, kids popping wheelies on bikes in the middle of the road, people driving the wrong way up South Brett Street, and cars pulling into the Key Food parking lot going the wrong way.

If you’ve never noticed before, the driveway on the left of the parking lot is the Entrance, and the driveway on the right is the Exit. Although there is a good amount of parking in the Key Food parking lot, there isn’t much room to maneuver two-way traffic, so it’s one-way.

To help everyone drive safely, Key Food had bright yellow arrows put down on their new parking lot paving job. A few parking spaces to the right of the front door were removed in order to make for better parking of the delivery trucks. As has been discussed at City Council meetings recently, Main Street is pretty narrow and congested with delivery trucks. Key Food now has a dedicated place for the trucks to park, making movement easier for everyone. See the picture of that cozy truck down below?

7th Customer Appreciation Day Hosted By Key Food Beacon

This Saturday, August 17, Key Food is hosting their 7th Customer Appreciation Day. It is an especially big deal this year, as everyone made it through the store’s enhancements. From their invitation: “Come celebrate with us. We want to thank you for your business. Join us for a fun event for the community. There will be free food, free beverages, free snacks, music, kids activities, giveaways and much more. Thank you so much for all your support and we hope to see you all there.”

When you come to the Appreciation Day, pop across the street to the Pop-Up Shop happening at A Little Beacon Space for some vintage T-shirts and possibly video game playing!

See you there!