Helmetta man still on run a day after officers tried to serve warrant for Jan. 6 role

Juan Carlos Castillo, Asbury Park Press
·2 min read
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Photos from Gregory Yetman's Facebook page show him, from left: wearing his National Guard military police uniform (posted in 2019); wearing a black beanie that resembles the FBI photos (posted in 2022) and wearing a face gaiter that resembles the videos of the Capitol pepper-spraying incident (posted in 2020).
Photos from Gregory Yetman's Facebook page show him, from left: wearing his National Guard military police uniform (posted in 2019); wearing a black beanie that resembles the FBI photos (posted in 2022) and wearing a face gaiter that resembles the videos of the Capitol pepper-spraying incident (posted in 2020).

The search for a Middlesex County man wanted in connection with the Jan. 6 Capitol riots has entered its second day.

Dozens of FBI agents and local police officers are looking for Gregory Yetman, who fled his home Wednesday morning as they attempted to serve him a warrant in connection with the 2021 incident.

Students and staff at nearby schools were sheltering-in-place, and some roads were closed as at least one helicopter and an armored car were used to search the woods near Yetman's Helmetta, New Jersey home.

Officials say he ran from his home Wednesday into the woods, which are full of hiking trails and bodies of water.

More: Southern Regional and Princeton University grad gets two months in prison for Jan. 6 riot

"A situation like this of course brings heightened anxiety -- it's not normal to see FBI agents and vehicles and tanks in your community," Helmetta Mayor Christopher Slavicek told USA Today. "You never think something like this will happen in your own backyard."

Yetman, a former National Guard sergeant, can be seen in videos from Jan. 6 assaulting Capitol police with pepper spray.

Yetman was the subject of a USA TODAY investigation in March that revealed that hundreds of people who could be identified from photos and videos of the riots had not yet been charged or arrested. Many of those people had been identified by volunteer sleuths online and reported to the FBI. USA TODAY verified and sought out some of those people, including Yetman.

More: Toms River man sentenced for his attack on a police officer at Jan. 6 Capitol insurrection

In videos from Jan. 6, the man identified as Yetman can be seen picking up a large canister of pepper spray from the ground and spraying it toward Capitol police and protesters. Photos of that man were posted on the FBI's wanted list for the insurrection, and he was labeled as suspect #278 AFO. AFO stands for “Assault on a Federal Officer.”

Federal prosecutors have charged more than 1,000 people involved in the Jan. 6 Capitol riot.

The FBI is asking anyone with information about Yetman to call the FBI in Newark at 973-792-3000.

This article originally appeared on Asbury Park Press: NJ manhunt: FBI searching for Jan. 6 suspect in Middlesex County