Emergency Service Officers Rescue Baby Deer Stuck In Mount Sinai Manhole

NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) - Oh deer. Talk about a feel-good story.

A baby deer fell about 20 feet into a manhole in Mount Sinai Thursday and was rescued by Suffolk County Police Emergency Service officers.

Landscapers working near a vacant lot by Route 25A and Nesconset Highway called police at around 3:36 p.m. after they noticed the fawn had fallen into a 20-foot manhole.

"It's not something we come across at all, it's unusual," Sgt. Peter Reilly, an officer with Suffolk County Police Emergency Services, told 1010 WINS. "Deer are generally very cautious animals and we were very surprised that the deer actually fell into the manhole."

After making sure it was safe to go down the manhole, one of four officers at the scene, Officer Walter Justincic, put on breathing apparatus and was lowered down into the manhole using a harness.

Justincic also put a separate harness on the deer, which was crying but otherwise seemed fine, according to officers.

They raised the deer to ground level three hours later.

"The deer was pretty calm," Reilly said. "We got it to walk around at some points and other times it would just sit down or lie down, but pretty calm overall."

The officers posed for pictures with the fawn before releasing it. The seemingly unscathed deer ran into the woods.

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