Escaped Convict Buckel Captured

An escaped convict gone for nearly a week was captured Monday afternoon off the Garden State Parkway north in Lacey Township.

Arthur Buckel, 38, was taken into custody without incident in the woods off the parkway just north of the Forked River rest area.

Video surveillance from late Sunday night showed Buckel had been inside the rest area, where he had arranged to turn himself in to State Police, officials said.

But he left when the police got there, and was seen walking down Double Trouble Road in Lacey Township, just off Exit 77, DOC spokesman Syed Hassan said.

It was believed Buckel was north of Lacey Township in Berkeley Township, Lacey Township Chief David Paprota told The Press of Atlantic City. But a pair of officers were stationed at the rest area as a precaution, in case he doubled back. And that is how he was captured.

While at the rest area, Lacey Detective Kevin Pearce and DOC K-9 Officer Daniel Rotundo got a tip from a passing motorist that they saw someone along the woodline around milemarker 76.5 north, Paprota said.

After the pair found Buckel, Pearce held him at gunpoint, while Rotundo took him into custody.

Buckel was then taken to have a medical evaluation and is being held in "a secure facility," Hassan said. He would not name where Buckel would be held.

“The apprehension of inmate Buckel would not have been possible without the hard work and dedication of several law enforcement agencies involved including various units of the New Jersey Department of Corrections, the New Jersey State Police, the United States Marshal Service and several local law enforcement agencies,” DOC Commissioner Gary Lanigan said. “It’s through this level of cooperation and teamwork that positive results can be achieved. I am deeply grateful to each and every one of you.”

Buckel escaped the Bayside Prison Unit of Ancora Psychiatric Hospital in Winslow Township sometime before bed check at 6 a.m. last Tuesday. 

He would have been eligible for parole just three weeks later. The escape could add three to five years to his sentence.

Buckel will now be questioned by the DOC's Special Investigations Division to find out how he escaped and where he has been, Hassan said.

The DOC, State Police and Lacey Township police were among the agencies involved in the overnight search.

Double Trouble State Park in Lacey Township was closed during the search Monday morning. It was reopened after Buckel's capture.

Rich Greene, of Toms River, said he goes dog walking in the park every day, and it's usually serene.

Buckel was serving a three-year sentence for drugs and robbery. Previously Buckel served 14 years for aggravated manslaughter after killing his girlfriend's infant daughter in 1996

http://www.pressofatlanticcity.com/alerts_breaking/police-capture-escaped-prisoner-arthur-buckel/article_40d8a074-15cf-11e6-9680-fb7b46a551bd.html 

http://jshn.org/search-underway-near-gsps-forked-river-service-area/

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