Escaped NJ convict taken into custody

After walking away from a rest area where he had promised to surrender to authorities on Sunday night, an escaped New Jersey convict was taken into custody on Monday along the Garden State Parkway.

Arthur Buckel was recaptured by authorities on the northbound side of the Parkway near mile marker 76.6, NBC10 reported.

Buckel remained at large earlier on Monday morning as authorities said that he had arrived at an agreed-upon rest area to surrender on Sunday night but left before law enforcement arrived, the Lacey Township Police Department reported.

Buckel, looking clean-shaven and wearing a gray sweatshirt and gray shorts, left the Forked River Rest Area on foot before officials arrived to take him into custody on Sunday, the Lacey Township Police added.

When he was discovered missing from the Ancora Psychiatric Hospital in Winslow Township on Tuesday, Buckel had been serving a sentence for aggravated assault, drug possession and burglary, NBC10stated. Previously, he served 14 years for killing a 10-month-old.

Police from Lacey and Berkeley, the New Jersey State Police andthe New Jersey Department of Corrections were all actively involved in the manhunt after Buckel’s disappearance from the rest area, according to NJ 101.5.

Authorities have told area residents there has been no indication that people were in danger, but police were planning to heighten their presence during the morning, according to NBC10.