A former Arkansas police chief imprisoned for decades for first-degree murder and rape charges escaped from prison on Sunday by wearing a "makeshift" law enforcement uniform, the Arkansas Department of Corrections said in a statement.
Grant Hardin, 56, the former Gateway police chief, escaped at about 3:40 p.m. from the North Central Unit in Calico Rock, officials said.
Search for Hardin Currently Underway Using
As of print, the search for Hardin is underway. On Monday, Rand Champion, a Corrections Department spokesperson, said in the investigation is ongoing and "using a lot of different manners," including canine units and drones. He added that rainy weather Monday is making the search difficult.
Another challenge is Hardin's background in law enforcement, which "makes it a little bit trickier" because he may know what officers are looking for and understand their search tactics, Champion said.
Champion said, however, that officials believe Hardin could be nearby. "We feel confident based on information that we have, and just the experience of our tracking crews, that he is still fairly close to the unit," Champion said, before adding that the officials "have a fairly good timeline of what happened."
The Corrections Department and the Division of Community Corrections are working with local, state and federal law enforcement to follow leads on Hardin's whereabouts. The search is a joint effort between the Corrections Department and Arkansas State Police.
Hardin Wore Makeshift Outfit to Mimic Law Enforcement Uniform to Escape the Facility
While officials did not provide details about how Hardin escaped, the statement says he "was wearing a makeshift outfit designed to mimic law enforcement when he escaped the facility." "He was not wearing a Department of Corrections uniform, and all DOC-issued equipment has been accounted for," the statement added.
Champion said the uniform Hardin was wearing "is not a traditional inmate-issued uniform, that's not traditional correctional officer-issued uniform, or any other uniform that we have."
"It is something that he put together and was able to use that to mimic a law enforcement officer to be able to leave the premises," Champion said, according to the station. He said officials are still looking into how Hardin was able to get materials to make the phony uniform.
Hardin was Serving 30 Years in Prison for 2017 Murder, Rape He Committed in 1997
Hardin was the police chief of the small town near the Missouri border for about four months in early 2016. He also previously worked as a police officer, a county constable and a corrections officer. He has been serving a 30-year sentence on first-degree murder charges at North Central Unit since 2017, as well as a 50-year sentence in a separate rape case.
Hardin pleaded guilty to the murder of Gateway city water employee James Appleton, 59, inOctober 2017.Appleton was talking to his brother-in-law, then-Gateway Mayor Andrew Tillman, when he was shot in his car Feb. 23, 2017, according to an affidavit filed in the case.
In February 2018, a DNA sample linked Hardin to a 1997 cold case rape of teacher Amy Harrison at Frank Tillery Elementary School. Hardin pleaded guilty to the rape, as well, and was sentenced to 50 years in prison.
"He is to be considered extremely dangerous and should not be approached," the Stone County Sheriff's Office said on social media.
