ASBURY PARK PRESS

APP.COM $1.50

TUESDAY 05.10.16

The education event

of the year is tonight.
Get your tickets now: on.app.com/onenation
How will education influence the 2016 vote? Be there at
7 p.m. at the House of Independents in Asbury Park.
Well offer:
Disussions on solving the student debt crisis.
Performances by DJ Atom Worth and Accidental Seabirds.
Complimenary Kane Brewing Co. beer.
Voter registration.
Doors open at 6 p.m. $10 general admission.
18+ to attend; 21+ to drink.

Berkeley gymnast eyes spot on Olympic team. Sports, 1C

CAPTURED

Prison escapee Arthur Buckel taken

into custody after 6 days on the lam

State senator
calls for Route
35 federal
investigation
RUSS ZIMMER @RUSSZIMMER

A state senator is calling for a federal investigation

after an Asbury Park Press report revealed that the
restoration of Route 35 has become one of the most expensive road projects in New Jersey history due to cost
overruns.
The rebuilding projects final bill has ballooned to an
estimated $341 million, or $27.3 million per mile for the
highway that runs 12.5 miles from Seaside Heights to
Bay Head on Ocean Countys northern barrier peninsula, according to an investigation by the Press. The
roadway was practically washed away in 2012 by superstorm Sandy.
The Press found that the project is $76 million over
budget, or nearly 30 percent of the total cost, with the
state paying millions of dollars to contractors not to
work as unexpected engineering issues were addressed. It also found that the federal government,
which was to fund 80 percent of the work, will now pass
$104 million of the costs to New Jersey taxpayers because it did not sign off on the extra spending.
State Sen. Raymond Lesniak, D-Union, has asked the
U.S. Department of Transportation and Congress to dig
into what happened on the project.
See ROAD, Page 7A

CHUCK BURTON/AP

Donald Trump (left) at a North Carolina campaign stop with

New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie earlier this year.

COURTESY OF 6ABC.COM/WPVI IN PHILADELPHIA

This aerial image from 6abc.com/WPVI in Philadelphia shows Arthur Buckel being taken into custody near mile marker 76.6 on
the Garden State Parkway.

ALEX N. GECAN @GEEKSTERTWEETS

ANDREW FORD @ANDREWFORDNEWS
AMANDA OGLESBY @OGLESBYAPP

Arthur Buckel, 38, was on

the run for six days.

LACEY - After days on the run, convicted baby killer-turned-fugitive Arthur Buckel is back in custody after a passing motorist tipped off cops that he was hiding
in the woods off the Garden State Parkway.
Lacey Police Chief David Paprota said that Detective Kevin Pearce and Department of Corrections K-9
Officer Daniel Rotundo were conducting surveillance
at the Forked River Service Area near Exit 77 when a
commuter reported possibly seeing a person in the
woods along the northbound lane on the east side of the
roadway at mile marker 76.5 around 11:30 Monday.
Pearce and Rotundo held Buckel at gunpoint, and
state officials took him into custody, said Paprota,
bringing to a close a manhunt that began six days ago
and 50 miles away. Buckel was taken into custody without incident, according to Al Della Fave, spokesman for
the Ocean County Prosecutors Office.
Buckel, who escaped a satellite unit of Bayside State
Prison near Hammonton last week, had made an appointment to turn himself in to authorities but then
bailed out at the last minute, prompting a massive
search for the prisoner in the woods near the Parkway
and in Double Trouble State Park, police said Monday.
State, local and neighboring towns police cruisers
and corrections vehicles swept through the Forked River Service Area Monday. State Police helicopters took
up the search from the sky.

TIMELINE
May 3: Inmate Arthur Buckel, 38, was not
accounted for during an early morning bed
check at Bayside State Prison in Winslow.
May 4: Barnegat police were alerted that
a car stolen from Hammonton, near the
prison, was recovered from the parking lot
of the CVS pharmacy in Barnegat. Police
determined through surveillance video that
the stolen car was driven by Buckel. Hundreds of officers swarmed the area to search
for him.
May 5: Barnegat Mayor John Novak
announced that authorities believed Buckel
had left the area.
May 8: Buckel made an appointment to
turn himself in to authorities but bailed out
at the last minute, prompting a massive
search near the Garden State Parkways
Forked River Service Area and in Double
Trouble State Park Sunday night.
May 9: Buckel was arrested near Parkway
Exit 77.

See ESCAPEE, Page 12A

Panama Papers made public. 1B

Jersey Shore connections found
in data leak. 4A

ADVICE
CLASSIFIED
COMICS
HEALTHY LIVING
LOCAL

7D
8D
6D
1D
3A

OBITUARIES
OPINION
SPORTS
TECH TUESDAY
WEATHER

8A
11A
1C
6A
10C

VOLUME 137
NUMBER 112
SINCE 1879

Christie is picked
by Trump to lead
transition team
BOB JORDAN @BOBJORDANAPP

TRENTON - Chris Christies role as top adviser to

presumptive Republican presidential nominee Donald
Trump has morphed: Christie is heading Trumps transition team, beginning work to line up candidates to
move into more than 4,000 political appointments
should Trump prevail in the November election.
Trump in a Monday statement said the New Jersey
governor will be overseeing an extensive team of professionals and that the pick was made because Christie is an extremely knowledgeable and loyal person
with the tools and resources to put together an unparalleled transition team, one that will be prepared to take
over the White House when we win in November.
The arrangement comes with heavy responsibilities
that will test Christies recent promise to focus more on
his gubernatorial duties, political analysts said. It also
signals Trump is looking elsewhere for a running mate
See CHRISTIE, Page 9A