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Arthur Buckel, 38, was seized by a Lacey Township police officer and state Department of Corrections officer at milepost 76.6, a law enforcement source with direct knowledge of the arrest said.
"A Department of Corrections van was on scene," the source told Daily Voice. "He was immediately loaded into the van and taken directly to Trenton, with a SWAT team and others forming a caravan."
Buckel had arranged a surrender at the Forked River rest area "and then backed out," he said. A brief chase ensued involving various agencies and a New Jersey State Police helicopter.
Buckel was missing during a 6 a.m. head count at the Ancora unit of Bayside State Prison in Winslow Township last Tuesday, New Jersey Corrections Department spokesman Matt Schuman told NBC10 in Philadelphia.
Buckel was admitted to Bayside State Prison this past November in connection with a Union County burglary conviction and was later convicted on aggravated assault, drug possession, burglary and other charges after Wayne police said he aimed his SUV at an officer trying to stop him in February 2015.
His parole eligibility date, according to state records, was May 21.
Had he been denied parole, the maximum Buckel could have served was another 18 months. He could now have another three to five years added onto his sentence, Schuman told NBC10.
Buckel was working as a janitor at the prison, the spokesman said.
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