Police In Barnegat Township Suspend Search For Escaped Prisoner
By Cleve Bryan
BARNEGAT, Nj. (CBS) -- Police in Ocean County are now suspending their search for escaped convict Arthur Buckel. His whereabouts remain unknown.
Police in Barnegat believe Buckel is no longer in their area. They are not being specific about where they believe Buckel may be at this time, or why they don't believe he is still in Barnegat. They are taking those hundred or more officers that have been patrolling through neighborhoods and telling them that they can return to some of their normal duties.
They will keep an increased presence in the schools. They say they will still have officers at the schools.
Surveillance video showed Buckel entering a CVS store in Barnegat on Wednesday morning. Police found out he had stolen a truck in Hammonton, NJ and GPS let them know the vehicle was at the CVS.
Despite tip calls, alleging Buckel sightings, it's possible he skipped town during that short window before police really started searching in Barnegat.
Buckel was discovered missing from a minimum security prison on Tuesday morning in Winslow Township. He was three weeks from parole on aggravated assault, burglary and drug charges.
In 1996, he pleaded guilty to aggravated manslaughter in the death of his then girlfriend's baby. He was released from prison in 2010 after serving more than half of a 25-year sentence.
Barnegat Township Police say they were flooded with tip calls after announcing that Buckel was possibly in town. That flood then went to a trickle and now they say they do have information from the Department of Corrections that he is no longer in Barnegat Township.