Cops: Heckscher Park scene of sex assault, beating

New York State Park Police reported a troubled Sunday at Heckscher State Park, with one person charged with a sexual assault in a pool and authorities seeking an assailant in an unrelated beating.

Chief Richard O'Donnell of the park police said an estimated 7,000 people gathered to enjoy a summer Sunday at Field Six of the park, which includes a large picnic and bathing area, but the scene turned nasty, as several fights broke out over the course of the afternoon.

In one case near Field 6, an 18-year-old female bather from the Bronx was groped in a pool, and a man taken into custody. O'Donnell said the suspect, who has been charged with sexual assault, is a 22-year-old Bronx man

In a large brawl later in the afternoon at the East Islip park, a Bronx man was struck with a bat or some other heavy object, O'Donnell said. Samir Palacios, 19, was conscious and alert when taken to a nearby hospital, O'Donnell said, but was not cooperating with investigators. Hospital officials say Palacios' injuries aren't life-threatening.

O'Donnell said it's uncommon to have serious assaults in state parks and he did not know what led to the violence Sunday, but said it appeared that a number of those involved in the larger fight had disagreements before coming to the park.

Anyone with information is asked to call park police at 631-669-2500.

In late May, a large brawl at Heckscher left an Islip man hospitalized with a head injury.