Police Investigate Suspicous Device at Sycamore Circle Park

Update 3:30 p.m.-  A spokeswoman from the Suffolk County police department said that a piece of PVC pipe, which they rendered safe, was the suspicious item that was found this morning and that as a precautionary measure, they detonated it. 

Police did not say whether or not the PVC pipe, which was found by a jogger, had explosives in it.  The park which was closed to visitors since 10:30 a.m., opened again shortly after the item was detonated. Police said the arson squad is investigating the incident. Patch will continue to update this story as information becomes available.

An explosion was reportedly heard on Sunday afternoon in the area of Sycamore Circle Park after police closed surrounding area roads as they investigated a suspicious device, which they eventually detonated.

According to a police spokeswoman, Suffolk County police arrived at the park, located on the corner of Sycamore Drive and Nicolls Road about 10:30 a.m. and cautioned off a section of the playground area within the park and closed the park to visitors.

Area roads were closed to traffic at 1:15 p.m. including Nicolls Road, Sycamore Drive and Oxhead Road at Barker according to a police spokeswoman. One resident who was stopped along with several other cars at this time said he heard an explosion.

"I was motioned to stop by police as I tried to turn on to Sycamore Drive," said Andrew Sloat. "I waited there and about thirty seconds later, I heard someone yell, 'in the hole' and then I heard an explosion. It was a muffled explosion."

Suffolk police had not other details and said that it is an active investigation. The park has been reopened.

Patch will update this story as more information becomes available.

Editor's note. This story was written by Jennifer Sloat, a nearby resident of the park. The man quoted in the story is her husband.