ELLENVILLE - At approximately 10 a.m. on Thursday, July 30, the Ellenville Police Department, in conjunction with the Ulster Regional Gang Enforcement Narcotics Team (URGENT) Task Force from the Ulster County Sheriff Department and the Sheriff's K-9 Unit, descended upon Lou's Market on at 76 1/2 Center Street in Ellenville. The police were executing a search and arrest warrant of the premises, and subsequently arrested the store's proprietor, Luis Jorge, on charges of sales and distribution of illegal narcotics.

“We've had a lot of complaints that we've been working with URGENT on, and this is a culmination of several months' work,” said Ellenville Police Chief Phil Mattracion at the scene. “We continue to aggressively target those people who think that they can traffic in illegal narcotics.”

After the arrest was made, the village's building inspector arrived and found several state fire code violations, as well as various other violations. As a result of the building inspector's findings, the building was immediately condemned, and at around 2 p.m., the Ellenville Street Department arrived to board up the entrance to the building. The building's power was also cut earlier in the day.

“They're effectively out of business,” remarked Sergeant Jeff Van Asselt as the street department workers went about boarding up the entrance.

In addition to the arrest, several people who were inside the store at the time of the execution of the warrant were detained until they were deemed to not be a part of the investigation. As a result of that, a female relative of Jorge became emotionally overcome and began complaining of chest pains, describing symptoms such as pain going up her arm. She had been sent across the street, where numerous pedestrians had gathered, and she could be seen pouring bottled water over herself while waiting for ambulances to arrive. At about 11:45 a.m., the Ellenville Rescue Squad arrived on the scene to take her to the Ellenville Regional Hospital.

According to eye-witnesses at the scene, members of the URGENT Task Force emerged from unmarked vehicles earlier in the morning. After executing the warrant, the area was cordoned off with police tape, and officers were stationed on either side of the store to prevent pedestrians from walking into the scene while the investigation was underway.

According to Chief Mattracion, Jorge was found in possession of liquid morphine and pills, possibly ecstasy, though he was unable to give exact details.