Week in Review: Man Hangs Self in Custody; Fire at Gyro Palace

Cops: Man Who Hanged Himself in Custody Didn't Seem Suicidal

Police said on Friday that a Rocky Point man who hanged himself in police custody less than 48 hours earlier had not shown prior signs of suicide during his arrest and processing, but on the contrary, appeared at ease with police officers after previously resisting arrest in a Shoreham neighborhood.

"After the altercation, the officers' entire interaction with him was calm," said Lt. Jack Fitzpatrick commander of the Suffolk Police homicide squad, which is conducting an investigation into the death.

Mt. Sinai Super: Proposed Increase in State Aid 'Not All That Helpful'

The Mt. Sinai School District went through a rough budget season in 2012, with an original, cap-busting $55.4 million budget that included a tax levy increase of 4.76 percent falling short of a supermajority.

Additional cuts were made, and a revised budget with a levy increase down at the cap of 2.13 percent passed with 67 percent approval. With almost a year under new Superintendent Enrico Crocetti’s belt, he and the Board of Education will look to have a smoother budget process this year and have already held a budget workshop to initiate the process.

Rocky Point Fire Department Responds to Fire Under Oven at Gyro Palace

The Rocky Point Fire Department was called to Gyro Palace on Route 25A in Rocky Point Thursday afternoon for a fire inside the restaurant.

According to chief Bill Lattman, the fire sprung up from some garbage under the ovens and was extinguished quickly.

Officials with the Department of Environmental Conservation say they caught seven different individuals, including a Sound Beach man, illegally off-roading over the weekend on preserved and private land in western Suffolk County.

According to the DEC, the incidents occurred on the 813-acre Oak Brush Plains State Preserve, which bisects the town borders of Huntington, Islip and Babylon and is open to residents with an access permit. Environmental conversation officers said they had been tipped off to illegal use of the lands previous to the Jan. 12-13 special enforcement assignment.

Pizza Hut to Join New Dunkin Donuts in Mt. Sinai

After the Mt. Sinai White Castle suddenly closed down last October after 10 years in business, Dunkin Donuts quickly swooped in and after an interior remodeling and a coat of paint on the façade of the building on Route 25A, the donut and coffee shop opened its doors in January, complete with a drive-thru.

Meanwhile, a little commercial space buttressing the main building has remained vacant – with no sign of what’s to become of it. But, on Thursday, employees at the Dunkin Donuts confirmed that at least part of the space will soon become a Pizza Hut.