Police capture convicted killer who escaped from NJ prison

These undated photos provided by Barnegat Police Department shows Arthur Buckel. Corrections officials say the minimum security inmate was missing when guards at Bayside State Prison in the southern New Jersey town of Hammonton performed a count Tuesday, May 3, 2016. (Barnegat Police Department via AP) (The Associated Press)

An inmate who escaped from a minimum security prison in New Jersey last week was tracked down and taken into custody Monday in a wooded area near a highway.

Arthur Buckel, 38, was located near the Garden State Parkway, Lacey Township police announced on Twitter. 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.

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.

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.