Escaped Jersey inmate captured without incident

LACEY TOWNSHIP, N.J. (AP) — 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.