A stabbing at the Dollar General in Ellenville on Wednesday prompted two manhunts after the suspect was found and then escaped from custody.

“There was an immediate manhunt for the suspect. We checked multiple different locations over the next course of two hours,” says Ellenville Police Chief Phillip Mattracion .

Authorities say the stabbing happened at the store on South Main Street at approximately 4:30 p.m. in front of multiple people inside the store. One witness gave News 12 video of the victim collapsing outside of the Valero gas station across the street.

Police say the victim, a man from Kingston, was seriously injured but able to identify his attacker as 23-year-old Jordan Coffey. Authorities say the victim underwent emergency surgery and is expected to survive.

“We received credible information that the suspect was in 8 Mill St. in an upstairs apartment,” says Mattracion.

Mattracion says Coffey was found by police and a K-9 hiding in a closet inside the apartment and he was taken into custody, but the ordeal didn’t end there.

News 12's Blaise Gomez's interview with Ellenville Police Chief Phillip Mattracion

Police say Coffey, who is also from Kingston but has family ties to Ellenville, was brought to Shawangunk Town Court, where the first available judge could preside over his arraignment for assault. They say he escaped in handcuffs after he was ordered to Ulster County Jail on $500,000 bail, prompting a second manhunt.

Coffey was found 45-minutes later, according to Mattracion. “He was very resistant. He just didn’t want to go to jail.”

Police say Coffey was recently given an appearance ticket for running away from state police in another incident and has a history of run-ins with the law before.

“We have dealt with him on several other occasions. He was just the subject of a state police chase where he ditched a car and got out and they captured him not too long ago,” Mattracion says.

According to published reports, Coffey was charged in 2019 in connection to a gang assault in Ellenville and arrested in June 2023 on a weapons charge in Ellenville for an armed brawl.

The incident remains under investigation. Ellenville police say there could be more charges and arrests in the case.

Coffey was rearraigned and additionally charged with escape in the first degree. He was remanded to Ulster County Jail without bail.