On Monday, December 2, 2024, at around 2pm, the Beacon Police said they "received a call for a welfare check on a suicidal female possibly in the area of 1020 Wolcott Avenue,” according to Police Chief Figlia in his press release published on Facebook.

That address is Loopers Plaza, home of All in One Food Mart, Sal’s Pizza, and other businesses. According to an employee of All In One Food Mart who saw the video of the woman and spoke to A Little Beacon Blog, the woman looked to be in her 20s and had come from the direction of Sal’s Pizza into All In One Food Mart. The employee said that they had never seen her before, that she was not a regular customer, but that it did seem like she was dealing with mental health issues.

The employee said that she entered the store by backing in, walking backwards, while holding a knife to her throat as Beacon Police were following her into the store to speak with her. According to the employee, she retreated to the back of the store by the coolers, still with the knife to her throat. An officer circled around to the back of the store, and approached her while she was standing at a food table under the TV in the middle of the store. She eventually put the knife down onto the table, the employee said, put her hands up, and was taken away by Beacon Police.

According to Chief Figlia’s press release:

“Beacon Police as well as our Mental Health America Behavioral Specialist [Lashaveous Dicker] located the individual there and found her calm but incoherent. While they attempted to speak with the individual she produced a kitchen knife from her pocket, held it to her own throat and then slowly retreated into the All In One Food Mart as officers continued to try to talk to her.

“At that point one group of officers evacuated an employee from the store while another entered and continued to try to engage and de-escalate the individual, though she was largely unresponsive. The second group of officers then also engaged with the individual and shortly after she dropped the knife. She was then taken into custody without further incident. At that time, it was discovered that she had what appeared to be a previously self-inflicted wound to her stomach. She was then transported to the hospital by ambulance for medical and mental health evaluation.”

Two weeks after this incident, while ALBB was interviewing the employee for this story, another woman - different from the the subject of this article - who was white was in the parking lot, also being slowly approached by at least two Beacon Police officers, who were trying to talk to her.

On Tuesday after midnight (Wednesday, July 31, 2024), “Beacon Police received a 911 call “of an upset subject” stating: ‘Looper's Plaza,” according to a press release issued by the department. Looper’s Plaza is the area that contains Beacon Dental, Sal’s Pizza, the convenient and wine store, and the basketball and tennis courts, at the intersection of South Avenue and Wolcott Avenue.

According to the press release, Beacon Police Department members “checked the area and located individuals in South Avenue Park walking away from the area toward West Center Street.” South Avenue Park includes the playground at the top left of the hill if one is facing the Beacon Recreation Center, which is located at 23 West Center Street.

“They stopped the individuals and one of them, a 16-year-old male, was observed to be bleeding. He stated he had been in a fight and was stabbed,” the press release stated. The teenager was transported to St. Luke's Hospital in Newburgh. At the hospital in the Emergency Room, “it was determined that he had suffered a non-life-threatening laceration to the head.”

While officers were interviewing the teenager, two other teenagers entered the ER: 17-year-old female and an 19-year-old male who were “also suffering from non-life-threatening lacerations.” The press release stated that the male and female teens were “believed to be associated with this incident.”

The incident is under investigation, and no further details have been released. People with information about the stabbing incidents are encouraged call the Beacon Police Department at 845-831-4111 to ask to speak to a detective.