Suffolk police rescue baby deer from hole

An Emergency Services officer descended nearly 20 feet through a manhole-size opening to rescue a baby deer at a Mount Sinai construction site, Suffolk County police said Friday.

Officer Walter Justincic, wearing a breathing apparatus and a safety harness, was lowered Thursday afternoon into the hole by Officers Tobie Monaco, Billy Judge and Dan Coan at the site near Route 25A and Nesconset Highway, police said.

Landscapers working at a vacant lot adjacent to the construction site had called Sixth Precinct police about 3:30 p.m. after they spotted the deer at the bottom of the hole.

Justincic put another harness around the torso of the deer, which police said was making crying sounds but appeared to be otherwise uninjured.

The deer was lifted to safety at about 8 p.m., followed by Justincic a few minutes later, police said. The animal was released into a wooded area.