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Doe! Supposed burglar turns out to be a trapped deer

Police said the intruders motive remains unclear and the roughly 4 feet tall and four-legged brown haired suspect still remains at large.

News 12 Staff

Mar 20, 2026, 12:58 PM

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A supposed burglar who broke into a Southold business turned out to be a harmless trapped deer.

On Thursday evening around 4:18 p.m., Southold Town police officers responded to a business after receiving a report of an intruder. When officers arrived, they found a broken front window and weren't sure what to expect once they pried open a back door.

Officers instead came face‑to‑face with the culprit sooner than expected: a deer who didn't want to face the consequences of paying for a broken window immediately hoofed it out of the building into the woods nearby.

With no blood, fingerprints, or other clues left behind, police made no arrests, they said.

They said the intruders motive remains unclear and the roughly 4 feet tall and four-legged brown haired suspect still remains at large.

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