Rochester police accused of damaging business during homicide investigation. What we know now

Rochester police officers executing a search warrant at The Avenue Blackbox Theatre on Joseph Avenue Wednesday said it was a necessary part of a homicide investigation. Reenah Golden, the theater’s owner and founder, called it a “show of force” that damaged the building for what she felt was tangential video footage.

Police officers pried open an exterior door to enter the business at 780 Joseph Ave. on Wednesday afternoon to collect potential evidence connected to the city’s most recent homicide, said Lt. Greg Bello of the Rochester Police Department. Jose Arroyo was killed on nearby Wilkins Street Saturday night, and his death is being investigated as Rochester’s 12th homicide of the year.

Bello said he could not comment on what evidence was collected. Golden said a hard drive containing video footage from The Avenue's ADT surveillance system was taken in the search.

What does The Avenue's founder say happened?

In a Thursday interview with the Democrat and Chronicle, Golden said she felt police rushed to execute the search warrant when she questioned why they needed to review surveillance footage she believed was unrelated to the homicide investigation.

The Democrat and Chronicle often partners with The Avenue Blackbox Theatre to host community events and programs.

The theater was closed at the time of the fatal shooting, Golden said, which occurred about 500 feet away from the crime scene. She said cameras on her property only cover the doors, windows and interior of the building.

While someone told her on Tuesday that police had been trying to reach her about the investigation, she first spoke with a police investigator around noon on Wednesday, Golden said.

When he did not explain why the footage was needed, Golden escalated her concerns saying she does not feel safe with “police surveillance," she said.

According to Golden, about an hour later RPD Chief David Smith and Capt. Frank Umbrino called and told her they were going to execute a search warrant and asked Golden to be at the theater within 20 minutes if she wanted to be present for the search.

Golden said she was unavailable and asked them to schedule an appointment or visit later that afternoon, when the theater would be open.

By 1:11 p.m. the theater’s alarm system activated, showing that officers were inside the building, The Avenue's founder said. Police did not provide a list of what was taken, so she is not sure if anything else was removed, Golden said.

“If they came in the afternoon or a mutually agreed upon time, a warrant wouldn’t have been necessary,” she said on Thursday. “I feel the warrant was a show of force and them flexing and painting this very damaging image that they wanted to portray on The Avenue based on their personal feelings about me and my values and how I feel about policing in Rochester.”

What does RPD say happened?

Bello confirmed that officers were in the neighborhood looking for evidence related to the homicide investigation and needed to obtain a warrant signed by a judge to collect potential evidence from the theater Wednesday.

He declined to comment on the interaction between the police and Golden.

Umbrino, who leads the department’s Major Crimes Unit, said that investigators had been attempting to reach Golden since Sunday to collect potential evidence. He said they left direct messages and messages through third parties, all of which went unanswered for days.

Umbrino said that at least a dozen residents and businesses in the neighborhood “fully cooperated” with police and shared potential evidence with the department as part of the investigation.

“Every other business and person we approached in the neighborhood on this investigation cooperated once they knew what we were doing and why,” Umbrino said. “It’s a puzzle. Every piece, no matter how small, can help.”

What’s next for The Avenue?

Golden said the search damaged the building’s only emergency exit and disabled her security cameras, forcing her to temporarily suspend all programming at the theater.

She said RPD’s comments to local journalists falsely implied the theater had something to do with the homicide.

“All the attention has now been pushed toward what I feel is a distraction from what is really the issue, which is that someone has been killed and a family is still waiting for some sort of resolution to that,” Golden said.

Golden established Avenue Blackbox Theatre in 2018 as a venue for emerging artists of color, offering programs and safe space for Rochester children and teens in what she calls an “arts desert” with few resources or creative outlets.

“Whether they believe it or not, the work that I do is preventing violence,” she said. “The work that I do is providing a long-term impact that our community needs for healing and for restoration and transformation.”

This article originally appeared on Rochester Democrat and Chronicle: Avenue Blackbox Theatre damaged during police investigation, owner says