The Ocean County Sheriff’s Department said late Monday morning that Arthur Buckel, the escaped prison inmate who has been the subject of a near week-long manhunt, has been apprehended.
According to scanner chatter, Buckel was apprehended just north of the Forked River rest area on the Garden State Parkway, near mile marker 76.
Buckel, who escaped last week from Bayside State Prison on the grounds of the Ancora Psychiatric Facility, and was first spotted at a Barnegat Township CVS store on Wednesday – prompting a lockdown of local schools – resurfaced Sunday night when he was reportedly spotted at the rest area, possibly making a phone call to his mother.
A search, involving helicopters, K9 units and numerous law enforcement agencies, began shortly after the sighting.