Weird News: White Deer Spotted; Inmate Busted For 'Hiding' Drugs

As a local news organization, Patch covers stories of all kinds, from heartbreaking tragedies to inspiring tales of community brotherhood. But some stories are just plain weird. Here are some of the stranger headlines from the past seven days.

Moby Doe?

A white deer was spotted prancing in the upper Red Creek Ridge in Hampton Bays this weekend by an area resident.

While white deer, otherwise known as a piebald deer, are uncommon to the area, according to the Department of Environmental Conservation, they have been spotted on the East End in the past.

In Dec. 2011, a Patch freelancer caught one on camera in Quiogue near Aspatuck Creek.

White deer are similar to typically colored deer, Bill Fonda of the DEC told Patch in 2011, but, he said, “They tend to have a shorter life expectancy." The reason — they stand out and are more susceptible to predators.

Drugs Found in Dark Place

Suffolk County correction officers confiscated drugs from inside an inmate this week, which he tried to smuggle in as he arrived to begin his sentence.

The East Hampton man was sentenced in Suffolk County Court in Riverhead on Tuesday to one year in the county jail on a felony charge of driving while ability impaired by drugs, according to court records.

When he entered the jail, officers found him in possession of suboxone strips and methadone pills, the county sheriffs office said in a statement on Friday.

The inmate "had smuggled them into the facility inside a body cavity using a balloon and fishing line to later retrieve the contraband," the statement continued.

He now faces additional charges of promoting prison contraband in the first-degree, a felony, and two counts of criminal possession of a controlled substance in the seventh-degree, which is a misdemeanor.