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New Jersey Inmate Escapes From Prison Weeks Before Parole

HAMMONTON, N.J. (CBS/AP) — Authorities are searching for an inmate who escaped from a minimum security prison in New Jersey weeks before he was due for parole.

Corrections Department spokesman Matt Schuman says 38-year-old Arthur Buckel was missing when guards at the Ancora unit of Bayside State Prison in Hammonton did a count at 6 a.m. Tuesday.

Schuman says Buckel, whose last known address was Clifton, was serving a sentence at the minimum security lockup for aggravated assault. He was scheduled to be paroled on May 21.

Buckel worked as a janitor in the prison.

Police describe Buckel is 5'9" tall, weighs about 180 pounds and has a small tattoo under his left eye.

Schuman says Buckel could face an addition 3 to 5 years in prison for escaping once he's recaptured.

(TM and © Copyright 2016 CBS Radio Inc. and its relevant subsidiaries. CBS RADIO and EYE Logo TM and Copyright 2016 CBS Broadcasting Inc. Used under license. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)

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