Missing inmate who walked away from NJ halfway house recaptured, officials say

MOUNT LAUREL, N.J. — Authorities in New Jersey have announced the recapture of a man who failed to return to a halfway house after serving a prison sentence for attacking and seriously injuring his parents more than two decades ago.

The New Jersey Department of Corrections said investigators with a fugitive unit of its special investigations division took Edward Berbon into custody without incident shortly before 2:30 p.m. Friday after locating him in Camden.

Berbon, 54, had been assigned to a halfway house in Camden County and had been working in Mount Laurel since March, state corrections officials said. He failed to return to the halfway house a week ago and was considered an escapee. Authorities said they had no information that he posed a threat to the community.

Berbon had previously served prison sentences for theft and robbery. Authorities said he attacked his parents at their home in Hamilton Township, Mercer County, in July 2004, just hours after he had been released from prison. It remains unclear what spurred those attacks. Both parents survived.