Suffolk cops investigating explosion that left crater on beach

BABYLON, N.Y. - A powerful explosive device created a four-foot crater in the middle of a beach on Fox Island in Long Island's Great South Bay over the weekend.

"It's just a nondescript little island but it would be a place if people wanted to go to make sure that nobody was around," Babylon Supervisor Rich Schaffer said.

The disruption that sent people into a panic happened Sunday morning. Soon after, over two dozen calls were made to police and hundreds of others poured into Babylon's Town Public Safety Office.

"They didn't find any fragmentation that would indicate that it was a low-explosive, pipe bomb-type device but we're still investigating the potential cause and origin of the explosion," acting Suffolk County Police Commissioner Stuart Cameron said.

After the smoke settled, police sent out a photo showing a 20-foot boat with stripes leaving the area around the time of the detonation.

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Who was involved and what they were doing remains a mystery. Police are investigating any and all possibilities.

"We do know that when people produce homemade explosives, very often they want to test those explosives to make sure they function as intended," Cameron said. "So that's one of our concerns, that's why we want to determine what transpired yesterday morning."

The impact from whatever it was was felt as far east as Sayville and traveled all the way into Nassau County. No injuries were reported.

"I'm hoping we can chalk this up to knuckleheads that did something that just went way out of control and they're lucky that they're still alive," Schaffer said.

Arson section detectives are asking for help identifying and locating the operator of the vessel seen leaving the area at the time of the detonation. Anyone with information is asked to call Crime Stoppers at 800-220-TIPS.