Marlboro Student Arrested After Saying He Saw Escaped Prisoner

Marlboro Township, NJ - The Marlboro High School student who said he saw escaped convict Arthur Buckel Friday morning near the school, causing a school-wide lockdown and a police search, has now been charged with filing a false report, police told Patch.

The student, 20 years old, has been charged with obstruction of a governmental function by creating a false report, said Marlboro police Captain Fred Reck.

Because of his age, he is being charged as an adult and his name was released by authorities. Michael Ozinitsky, a Marlboro Township resident, was arrested and released on his own recognizance Friday afternoon.

"Our police officers continued their investigation into this morning's claim and this is the result," said Reck. "The investigation into this continues."

Ozinitsky originally told Marlboro police that he thought he saw escaped prisoner Arthur Buckel at 8:30 a.m. Friday at the Wawa near the school. He first reported the sighting to police at 10:30 a.m., Reck said.

The school went into "shelter in place" lockdown mode, as officers combed the area near the Wawa.

Then Ozinitsky said he actually saw Buckel near the QuickChek, a few miles down the road, police said. A similar search was done there; surveillance video from that store was reviewed, but the results turned up negative.

Reck said he did not know why the student was in high school at age 20, or why he allegedly made a false report.

The entire Jersey Shore region has been on high alert for Buckel ever since he escaped a South Jersey prison Tuesday. Schools and residents in Barnegat, Waretown and Long Beach Island went into lockdown mode Wednesday after a car stolen by Buckel was spotted in the area.