• U.S.

New Jersey Escaped Convict Arthur Buckel Was Spotted at CVS

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New Jersey Police are on the hunt for an escaped minimum security inmate who was spotted entering a CVS in the town of Barnegat on Wednesday.

Corrections authorities discovered Arthur Buckel, 38, was missing from Bayside State Prison in South New Jersey during a Tuesday morning inmate check, the AP reports. After the Barnegat Police Department alerted residents about the escaped convict, they were flooded with tips and had investigated over 50 of them by Wednesday evening.

“He is going to be found. He is going to be apprehended,” said Barnegat Mayor Jon Novak at a Wednesday press conference. “My suggestion to [Buckel] is to surrender to law enforcement immediately. Make it easy for everyone, including yourself. You are going to be apprehended either way.”

https://www.facebook.com/OceanCountyPoliceFireEMS/posts/1429079360451514

Investigators suspect Buckel may be trying to reach a relative nearby in New Jersey. Barnegat residents have been advised to lock their doors and cars.

[AP]

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Write to Julia Zorthian at julia.zorthian@time.com