Cops: Unconscious man found in Copiague with head trauma

An unconscious man with head trauma who was found on the ground in a Copiague parking lot was in critical but stable condition at a hospital Wednesday, Suffolk police said.

The man, whose identity was not released, “suffered a blunt force type trauma to his head,” Suffolk Assistant Commissioner Justin Meyers said. No arrests have been made.

A passerby discovered the man, 47, about 9:45 p.m. Tuesday in the parking lot at the corner of Great Neck Road and Oak Street, across from stores and the Copiague Long Island Rail Road station, police said.

First Precinct detectives at the scene Tuesday night said they had few clues about how the man was injured. Initial police suspicions that the man had been shot in the head were unfounded because no evidence of a bullet was seen in tests at the hospital, authorities said. He underwent surgery at Good Samaritan Hospital Medical Center in West Islip, police said.

“We’re investigating it as if it were criminal, just to be on the safe side,” said Det. Lt. Shaun Spillane. “He was discovered unconscious. There was no related disturbance. He was just found there.”

Investigators said neighbors did not hear anything. The only call police received about the man was from the passerby, officials said.

Detectives were unable to talk to the man at the hospital because he did not regain consciousness before surgery. Spillane said a police officer was posted at the hospital to monitor the patient’s prog ress.

Crime scene detectives early Wednesday photographed blood in the parking lot, cordoned off by police tape.

Detectives ask anyone with information to call Crime Stoppers at 800-220-8477.

With Nicole Fuller