Escaped inmate caught in my town

I live in the Forked River section of Lacey Township. Last week our schools and the neighboring town schools were put in a lockdown while Police searched for this low life. The lock down ended today with his capture.
In 1995 he killed a 9 month old baby girl by slapping her. He was up for release in 3 weeks!
It was thought he was going after the baby girls mother or her children who reside a few mile away in Barnegat Township.


Chief: Escaped N.J. inmate did not resist when he was captured




MSN




LACEY TOWNSHIP, N.J. — An inmate who escaped from a New Jersey minimum security prison last week did not resist and appeared fatigued when he was tracked down and taken into custody Monday after a motorist reported seeing him in a wooded area near a highway, officials said.

Arthur Buckel, 38, was located near the Garden State Parkway after a police officer and state corrections officer tracked him down following the report from the motorist at a highway rest stop, Lacey Township police Chief David Paprota told The Associated Press.

Paprota said Det. Keith Pearce, a 20-year veteran of the force, held Buckel at gunpoint while the corrections officer took him into custody about 20 yards into the woods.

"Most of us have not slept since Saturday night because this event started last evening, so we're all very tired, very fatigued and very glad that it is over," Paprota said.

Syed Hasson, a spokesman for the state department of corrections, confirmed that Buckel was in custody.

Video from WPVI-TV shows about 20 officers surrounding a handcuffed Buckel sitting on a guardrail of the highway before they led him away from the scene. He was later transported in a van to a state prison in Trenton.

Buckel was seen on surveillance video late Sunday at a rest area off the Garden State Parkway, Lacey Township police said.

The state police said Buckel had indicated a desire to turn himself in and was making arrangements through his family to do so at the rest area. But, he was gone by the time state troopers arrived, police said.

Authorities searched through the air, and armed officers combed through the wooded area because it was believed Buckel, who once served time for manslaughter for killing a baby, headed north on foot.

Paprota said he kept an officer stationed at the rest stop as a precaution in case he circled back. "It worked out," Paprota said.

Buckel was found to be missing last Tuesday when guards did a count at the Ancora unit of Bayside State Prison in Hammonton. Lacey Township is about 50 miles northeast of Hammonton.

Buckel had been serving a sentence for aggravated assault, drug possession and burglary. He was scheduled to be considered for parole later this month. Buckel previously served 14 years in prison after pleading guilty to aggravated manslaughter of a 10-month-old child.

© Barnegat Police Department via AP

3 weeks, WTF?!
Must have wanted to stay locked up.

I got to talk to a State Trooper today and he told me the guy was worn out and just wanted to turn himself in.
He must have wanted to go back in if he couldn't wait the 3 weeks. My other theory was that maybe the ex-girlfriend was going to move once she heard he might be released, so he thought to get her before she takes off. Who knows?