The convicted felon was arrested after police allegedly found him in the Pinelands wearing combat gear and in possession of an assault weapon.
LACEY TOWNSHIP - A 42-year-old Mercer County man was arrested Sunday after police allegedly found him in the Greenwood Forest Wildlife Management Area with an assault weapon, a handgun and various forms of ammunition.
At approximately 1:05 p.m. on Sunday, a patrol team from a Lacey Township Police Department-led multi-agency task force observed a suspicious vehicle within the wooded area in Lacey Township.
Bruce "Brus" J. Post III, 42, of Hamilton Township, was arrested Sunday after police allegedly found him in the Greenwood Forest Wildlife Management Area with an assault weapon, a handgun and various forms of ammunition. (Ocean County Jail) The focus of the task force - which is also comprised of law enforcement officers from Ocean Township Police Department, the New Jersey State Police, the Ocean County Sheriff's Department, the New Jersey State Park Police, and the New Jersey Division of Fish and Wildlife - is the detection and deterrence of criminal activity, trespassing, and off-road vehicle violations in the Pinelands and on private property.
The task force was established three weeks ago due to the increasing trespassing by persons in off-road vehicles, fire hazards, and criminal activity within the rural wooded areas west of the Garden State Parkway in Lacey Township.
The vehicle the patrol observed on Sunday was a 2007 Hyundai Tucson that was pulled off of the path and into the woods on Bryant Road within the Greenwood Forest Wildlife Management Area in Lacey Township.
Officers then located two individuals in the wooded area approximately 100 yards from the parked vehicle.
One of those subjects - Bruce "Brus" J. Post III, 42, of Hamilton Township - was "wearing combat gear and gave indications of possible white-supremacist involvement," Lacey Township Police Chief David Paprota said in a statement.
After speaking with the two subjects and determining their activities to be suspicious, the officers then discovered an AK-47, a Walther P38 9mm handgun, eight 30-round high-capacity magazines, and one 100-round drum magazine, and various forms of ammunition at the scene, Paprota said.
Post was processed at the Lacey Township Police Department by Officer Michael Eden and Detective Keith Pearce and charged with a first-degree offense of unlawful possession of weapons (certain persons not to possess weapons - felon), as well as the second-degrees offenses of unlawful possession of weapons (handgun and assault weapon - AK-47) and certain persons not to have weapons (felon). He was also charged with a fourth-degree offense of possession of prohibited weapons and devices (high capacity magazines).
He was lodged in the Ocean County Correctional Facility in Toms River in default of his bail, which was set at $400,000 with no 10-percent option.
The second individual - identified as a 38-year-old male from Trenton - was detained at the scene, but not arrested.
However, Paprota said the investigation was ongoing and that additional charges against the second individual were pending the investigation.
The Hyundai Tucson, which belonged to Post, was impounded for further processing.
Post was also in possession of shovels and tarps at the time of his arrest, police said.
"Based on the suspicious nature of the entire encounter, a thorough K-9 and foot search was conducted in the area the subjects were located," said Paprota, adding the search did not reveal any additional evidence.
According to court records, Post was sentenced in 1997 to five years in prison for an aggravated assault with a deadly weapon in 1993.
He also served two and a half years for a hindering apprehension in connection to the brutal 1995 killing of Andrew Whited Jr., whose body was disposed of in a wooded area along Interstate 195 after he was reportedly stabbed nearly 30 times at a party.
Post's younger brother, Joseph Post, is currently serving a life sentence for that killing. The older Post brother cleaned up blood and destroyed evidence in the case, authorities said.
Due to "Bruce J. Post's well publicized past history," Paprota said the Lacey Township Police Department is asking anyone with information that might be helpful to the investigation to contact Lieutenant Michael DiBella or Officer Michael Eden at 609-693-6636.
--NJ Advance Media's Kevin Shea contributed to this report.
Rob Spahr may be reached at rspahr@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @TheRobSpahr. Find NJ.com on Facebook.