Ex-police chief convicted of murder, rape escapes from Arkansas prison
May 26 (UPI) -- Authorites in northwest Arkansas are searching for a former police chief serving time for murder and rape who escaped from prison wearing a makeshift police uniform.
The Arkansas Department of Corrections said Grant Hardin, 56, escaped from the North Central Unit in Calico Rock in Izard County at approximately 3:40 p.m. CDT Sunday. Calico Rock is 126 miles north of Litle Rock.
The search, which was continuing Monday, is a joint effort of the Department of Corrections, Arkansas State Police, and local and state law enforcement.
The prison agency said he 'was wearing a makeshift outfit designed to mimic law enforcement' when he escaped. He was not wearing a prison guard uniform and all DOC-issued equipment has been accounted for.
Hardin was the former chief of police for the city of Gateway in Benton County, which had a population of 444 people in 2023. He also was a police officer, county constable and corrections officer. Gateway, which is near the Missouri border, is 129 miles west of Calico Rock.
Hardin is described as 6 feet, weighing approximately 259 pounds.
'Anytime there's an escape, we consider that a threat to the public,' Rand Champion with the Arkansas Department of Corrections told KHBS-TV. 'He does have a law enforcement background. Anytime something like this exists, we consider it a threat to the community.'
Since 2017, Hardin has been at the North Central Unit serving a 30-year sentence for first-degree murder, as well as 25 years for each rape count.
He pleaded guilty to the murder of James Appleton, 59, a city water employee found shot in the face inside his work truck in October 2017, KNWA reported.
A witness told police that Appleton's truck and a white sedan was seen on the side of the road. He said heard a loud boom and saw the sedan drive away. The witness found Appleton slumped over in the seat, with a gunshot wound to the head.
His DNA linked him to the rape cold case of a teacher in 1997, the TV station reported. Amy Harrison, a teacher at Frank Tillery Elementary in Rogers, was raped by a man with a gun at the school.
While preparing a lesson plan for the week, the teacher was ambushed.
'Grant Hardin, in my view and in my personal experience, is one of the most dangerous people that I ever seen for the reason that he does not at first appear that way,' Nathan Smith, the prosecuting attorney for Benton County at the time, said. 'He is a man capable of a seemingly random, horrific murder as well as a random horrific rape.'
The sexual assault was profiled on the TNT series Cold Justice: Sex Crimes in 2015.
Copyright 2025 UPI News Corporation. All Rights Reserved.
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November 1, 1991: Hardin is hired by the Huntsville Police Department June 2, 1992: Hardin leaves the Huntsville Police Department July 20, 1993: Hardin is hired by the Eureka Springs Police Department October 4, 1996: Hardin is fired by the Eureka Springs Police Department Then Chief Earl Hyatt fired Hardin for excessive force and lying on a report, KNWA reported November 9, 1997: Hardin assaults a school teacher in Rogers, Arkansas The victim told investigators that she was attacked on a Sunday morning, a time she normally worked to prepare for the week and noted that a church group was meeting in the school's cafeteria, according to an affidavit filed at the time of the attack. She was attacked at gunpoint after leaving her classroom for a restroom off of the teacher's lounge, according to the affidavit. 2009: Hardin begins his first term as Benton County District 1 Constable, according to 5News 2013: Hardin begins his second term as constable, according to 5News January 2016: Hardin is hired to be the police chief in Gateway, Arkansas April 2016: Hardin resigns from the position following an ultimatum from the city council, according to the Associated Press "He's an evil person," then city council member and current Gateway Mayor Cheryl Tillman told USA TODAY. November 21, 2016: Hardin is hired at the Northwest Arkansas Community Correction Center in Fayetteville, according to KHBS/KHOG. He would work there until his arrest February 23, 2017: Hardin shoots James Appleton Appleton's brother-in-law, Andrew Tillman, told Benton County Sheriff's investigators that he was on the phone with Appleton when he was shot, according to a probable cause affidavit. 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