Police search The Avenue Blackbox Theatre as part of homicide investigation 

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The Rochester Police Department executed a search warrant at The Avenue Blackbox Theatre on Wednesday as part of a murder investigation.

A police spokesperson confirmed that the search took place and that it was related to the death of Jose Arroyo on Saturday. Arroyo, 41, was shot and killed at 123 Wilkins St., near the intersection of Joseph Avenue, about 400 feet from the theater.

“As part of the investigation into Saturday night’s murder on Wilkins Street, members of the Rochester Police Department’s Major Crimes Unit executed a search warrant today at The Avenue Blackbox Theatre, 780 Joseph Avenue,” a statement from the department read. “As a result of the search warrant, potential evidence relating to the murder investigation was successfully collected.”

The executive artistic director of the theater, Reenah Golden, said in a text message that police had asked her for her Ring security camera footage and that she told them she did not have any footage.

Golden added in her text message that she explained to police that she was unable to be present during the time officers wanted to execute the search, but that police entered anyway. 

She wrote of the incident on her Facebook page and posted photos of damage to the door at Blackbox.

“So after a conversation in which I was yelled and threatened and told that I was an obstacle to RPD being able to solve violent crime using my ring camera, RPD just broke into The Avenue Blackbox Theatre,” Golden wrote.

Search warrants are authorized by judges. Typically, police officers or another official wanting to search a premises must file a warrant application with a judge and swear under oath that there is a just reason to search the location.

Golden founded The Avenue Blackbox Theatre four years ago. A small, Black-led performing arts space, Blackbox has become something of a community and cultural hub for the Joseph Avenue neighborhood.

In September, the theater announced that it was awarded $190,000 in grants for renovations and improvements, a mix of funds from the state and private entities. Two months later, Monroe County set aside $60,000 for the theater in its budget for this year.

CORRECTION 4.19.23: An earlier version of this story reported that Reenah Golden, the executive artistic director of The Avenue Blackbox Theatre, refused to provide security camera footage to police, based on a Facebook post in which Golden described being told by police that she was "an obstacle" to their investigation. Golden clarified in a text message to CITY that she did not deny camera footage to police, but told them that she had none. The story has been updated to reflect the new information.