Sign up to save your podcasts
Or
Share Police Release Description of Assault Suspect
Share to email
Share to Facebook
Share to X
Share to email
Share to Facebook
Share to X
Or
Police Release Description of Assault Suspect
Department seeks white male who attacked woman
The Beacon Police Department on Thursday (Jan. 15) released a description of a suspect in the Wednesday assault of a woman near the intersection of Wolcott and Tioronda avenues.
Police asked residents citywide to check doorbell or security cameras for footage taken Wednesday that captured a white male wearing a black jacket or coat (not a puffy coat), a black knit hat and blue pants or jeans. The suspect is described as possibly being in his 30s or 40s, approximately 5-foot-11 with a medium build and a "very close" brown beard.
Anyone with footage of an individual fitting that description, or most of the description, should call the Beacon Police Department at 845-831-4111.
The department received a call Wednesday morning from Dutchess County 911 to assist fire and EMS personnel that had responded to a report of an unconscious woman near Tioronda and Wolcott. Upon arrival, Police Chief Tom Figlia said that officers determined there was reason to believe the woman had been "seriously assaulted."
Nearby Sargent Elementary School was placed on a lockout until the area could be searched. The area around the school was searched, but no suspect was found. By then, officers told school officials that they were confident the suspect had left the area.
The victim, whose name was not released, is in stable condition, police said.
In a statement on Thursday, Figlia addressed online criticism that the department had not previously released enough information. "We do not take the public's concerns lightly at all," he said. "Had it been appropriate to release this information earlier, we would have." He asked residents to understand that in the investigation of some traumatic assaults, "it is not even appropriate to fully take a statement from a victim until time has passed."
"It would therefore be irresponsible for us to prematurely release information which we, objectively, could not rely on," Figlia said. Police must "balance the public's need to know with the victim's privacy and the potential to compromise an investigation and/or prosecution. The department is continuing to devote its full resources to this investigation and is receiving assistance from other agencies, as well."
View all episodes
By Highlands CurrentDepartment seeks white male who attacked woman
The Beacon Police Department on Thursday (Jan. 15) released a description of a suspect in the Wednesday assault of a woman near the intersection of Wolcott and Tioronda avenues.
Police asked residents citywide to check doorbell or security cameras for footage taken Wednesday that captured a white male wearing a black jacket or coat (not a puffy coat), a black knit hat and blue pants or jeans. The suspect is described as possibly being in his 30s or 40s, approximately 5-foot-11 with a medium build and a "very close" brown beard.
Anyone with footage of an individual fitting that description, or most of the description, should call the Beacon Police Department at 845-831-4111.
The department received a call Wednesday morning from Dutchess County 911 to assist fire and EMS personnel that had responded to a report of an unconscious woman near Tioronda and Wolcott. Upon arrival, Police Chief Tom Figlia said that officers determined there was reason to believe the woman had been "seriously assaulted."
Nearby Sargent Elementary School was placed on a lockout until the area could be searched. The area around the school was searched, but no suspect was found. By then, officers told school officials that they were confident the suspect had left the area.
The victim, whose name was not released, is in stable condition, police said.
In a statement on Thursday, Figlia addressed online criticism that the department had not previously released enough information. "We do not take the public's concerns lightly at all," he said. "Had it been appropriate to release this information earlier, we would have." He asked residents to understand that in the investigation of some traumatic assaults, "it is not even appropriate to fully take a statement from a victim until time has passed."
"It would therefore be irresponsible for us to prematurely release information which we, objectively, could not rely on," Figlia said. Police must "balance the public's need to know with the victim's privacy and the potential to compromise an investigation and/or prosecution. The department is continuing to devote its full resources to this investigation and is receiving assistance from other agencies, as well."