Crime & Safety
Jail Escapee Nabbed by U.S. Marshals in Hopatcong
Wayne Edward Schmidt will be transported back to the Pennsylvania jail he escaped from in 2005.
A 52-year-old jail escapee will return to the Pennsylvania facility he fled from eight years ago after he was found in a Hopatcong home Friday and taken into custody by U.S. Marshals.
Wayne Edward Schmidt was originally jailed for a parole violation and escaped from the Somerset County Jail in January 2005 when he ran from officers following a family visit, according to the Daily American. His son told the newspaper that he ran from the jail because he was being abused by other inmates and that his complaints to the administrators of the jail were being ignored.
In addition to his Pennsylvania charges, Schmidt will now be charged in New Jersey as a fugitive and was being held in the Sussex County Jail before being extradited, the Daily American reported.
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With the new charge, Schmidt faces the maximum sentence for an escapee and could serve up to seven years in prison and be forced to pay a $15,000 fine.
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