AMENIA — George Hoffman, 46, of Amenia, was arrested last Tuesday, April 27, for unlawful surveillance in the second degree. Hoffman, the manager of the Family Dollar Store located in the Freshtown Plaza on Route 22 in Amenia, was charged with hiding a video camera in the employee’s bathroom and illegally videotaping female employees in the bathroom without their consent.
Lieutenant Frank LaMonica Jr. of the Dutchess County Sheriff’s Office said that the office received a call from a female employee of the store on April 27. A deputy and detective responded to the store and conducted an investigation. LaMonica said they found evidence that implicated the manager and arrested Hoffman that same day. The sheriff’s office believes the videotapings were sexually-motivated, but LaMonica said he had no information as to how long it had been going on.
Employees at the Family Dollar Store said Hoffman is no longer working for the store. They chose not to comment further, directing inquiries to their district manager, who deferred to Public Relations Manager Josh Braverman in the company’s corporate offices.
Braverman said that Hoffman is suspended pending an investigation, and it was unknown at what point the company would finish its investigation. He was not sure how long Hoffman had been with the company.
“Allegedly this was an isolated incident,� Braverman said. “We do our best to police each store, and it’s up to the district manager to oversee each store and up to the team members that work at each store to monitor their environment.�
In general, when the manager is not available to work the assistant manager fills that role, Braverman said.
Hoffman was arraigned before Amenia Town Justice Norman Moore, where he posted $1,000 cash bail and was released. He is to appear back in the town of Amenia Court on May 17 at 1 p.m.
