'Devil in the Ozarks': FBI offers $20K reward for capture of former Arkansas police chief on the run
Former Gateway Police Department Chief Grant Hardin, 56, escaped from the North Central Unit, a medium-security prison, that Sunday afternoon in Calico Rock, according to the Arkansas Department of Corrections (ADC).
The FBI said Hardin has ties to Garfield, Eureka Springs, Holiday Island and Huntsville.
"The FBI's Little Rock Field Office is assisting the U.S. Marshal Service, the Arkansas Department of Corrections, and the Arkansas State Police with the search for and apprehension of Grant Matthew Hardin," reads an FBI wanted poster.
Texas Escaped Inmate Considered Armed And Dangerous After Psychiatric Hospital Break
Former FBI agent Rob D'Amico told "Fox & Friends" Friday morning that Hardin's past as a police chief may give him a unique advantage on the run.
Read On The Fox News App
"I think it makes it a lot more challenging. He knows how they do it. He knows what they look for, he knows how they follow leads. He knows how they do surveillance," D'Amico said.
'Devil In The Ozarks' Who Escaped Prison Likely Still In Arkansas Area: Officials
The former FBI agent noted that there are likely many unmanned, unlocked cabins and sheds in wooded areas around Stone County, which is located East of the Ozark Mountains.
ADC Communications Director Rand Champion said during a Wednesday news conference that authorities are fairly confident in the route they believe Hardin took when he escaped prison and his current location in the region.
Manhunt Underway After Disgraced Former Police Chief Convicted Of Murder, Rape Escapes Arkansas Prison
"Based on the information that we have and the experience of our teams, they feel fairly confident that he is still fairly close to this region," Champion said, noting that "all it takes is one vehicle" for Hardin to use to travel elsewhere, though officials have established a perimeter around the area of Stone County.
"As of this time, they are still very confident that he is in the area," Champion said.
Massive Jail Break In New Orleans 'Impossible' Without Staff Involvement, Says Ex-fbi Fugitive Hunter
Champion said the public should assume Hardin is "a very dangerous individual," and there is a risk he may commit more crimes while he is on the run.
It took less than 30 minutes for prison officials to notice that Hardin had disappeared from prison. Photos that the Stone County Sheriff's Office posted to social media show Hardin wearing an ADC-style uniform during his escape through a sally port, though Champion said the uniform he was wearing was not an official uniform.
Louisiana Ag Confident Remaining Jailbreak Fugitives Will Be Captured After Officials Make 14Th Arrest
Hardin was sentenced to 30 years for murder plus additional time for rape.
He pleaded guilty to the 2017 murder of James Appleton, 59, a city water employee who was found shot in the face inside his work truck, KNWA reported. While Hardin was being booked into the state prison around that time, officials submitted his DNA sample into a database. His DNA ended up linking him to the rape cold case of a teacher in 1997, the outlet reported.
Hardin ended up pleading guilty in that case in 2019, according to KNWA.
The former police chief's escape came two days after 10 prisoners escaped a correctional facility in New Orleans, eight of whom have since been re-captured while two remain at large.
Hardin is described as a 6 ft. white male, weighing approximately 259 pounds. The FBI is asking tipsters to call 1-800-CALL-FBI with any information concerning the escapee.
Fox News' Stepheny Price and Louis Casiano contributed to this report.Original article source: 'Devil in the Ozarks': FBI offers $20K reward for capture of former Arkansas police chief on the run
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
New York Post
a few seconds ago
- New York Post
White-powder envelope sent to NYC ICE office said it was delivering ‘karma' for migrants
One of the suspicious white-powder envelopes sent to an ICE office in Manhattan this week included a menacing note saying it was delivering 'karma' for migrants, law-enforcement sources told The Post. The sinister note — found in one of five envelopes containing boric acid discovered Thursday in the ninth-floor mailroom at 26 Federal Plaza — appeared to include lyrics from the Anthrax song, 'A Skeleton in the Closet' and bore a return address from an ICE building in Washington, DC, sources said. 'Deprive innocent people from their freedom and walk all over their human rights is a crime that has to be punish by men laws and divine law, nobody can escape from karma NOTE EVEN YOU,' read the letter, which was viewed by The Post. Advertisement 3 FDNY, NYPD, and FBI personnel evacuate 26 Federal Plaza after the discovery of five suspicious envelopes. REUTERS 'THE POWDER IS XARHTNA, WE HAVE YOUR OFEICE AIR AND YOUR FAMILY AS WELL.' Sources said six employees were in the room — including two within the contamination zone — when the disturbing envelopes were found, prompting authorities to swiftly evacuate the government building, also home to the US Department of Homeland Security, immigration court and other federal agencies. Advertisement Officials said there were no reported injuries. 3 Six ICE employees were in the room — including two within the contamination zone — when the disturbing envelopes were found. Getty Images Thirty-nine detainees on the floor above were relocated to New Jersey as a precaution, the source said. The agency has come under intense heat from critics for carrying out a White House crackdown on illegal and criminal migrants. Advertisement 'Upon receiving preliminary test results, 26 Federal Plaza was reopened last last night,' a FBI New York rep said in a statement. 'These preliminary test results from the crime scene, and from the New York Public Health Labs indicated there was no hazardous materials or biological toxins present.' 3 The substance was later found to be boric acid, a chemical which can irritate the skin. REUTERS The substance was later found to be boric acid, a chemical which can irritate the skin, cause shortness of breath if inhaled and lead to vomiting if ingested. Advertisement The tainted envelopes were sent to the FBI's Quantico lab in Virginia for further analysis as the agency launched its own probe, officials said. 'ICE is extremely grateful to the FDNY, NYPD, FBI and FPS for their swift and decisive action to ensure the safety and well-being of everyone who was inside 26 Federal Plaza during this incident,' an ICE rep said in a statement, noting the building resumed normal operations Friday. 'The perpetrator(s) of this appalling crime who sought to terrorize ICE employees will not prevent us from continuing our congressionally mandated mission to preserve public safety and national security by keeping dangerous criminal aliens out of our communities in New York City and off the streets of America.'
CNBC
an hour ago
- CNBC
FBI Director Patel and foundation win defamation lawsuit against blogger, awarded $250,000
FBI Director Kash Patel and his foundation won a default judgment in their defamation lawsuit against a blogger who publicly accused Patel of being a "Kremlin asset," of trying to overthrow the U.S. government, and of planning the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol by supporters of President Donald Trump. Patel and the Kash Foundation were awarded a total of $250,000 in compensatory and punitive damages against the Substack blogger and podcaster Jim Stewartson in an order on Aug. 5 by Judge Andrew Gordon in U.S. District Court in Las Vegas. The order was first reported by the online news site Court Watch. Gordon issued the default judgment favor of the longtime Trump loyalist Patel after Stewartson did not respond in court filings to the lawsuit, which cited a series of social media posts and other comments by Stewartson. Patel had sought $10 million in damages on claims of defamation, injurious falsehood and business disparagement. The judge said punitive damages were warranted in the case "in part to deter Stewartson and others from engaging in defamation." "Factual criticism of, and opinions about, public figures are protected speech and must be tolerated," Gordon wrote. "But defamatory falsehoods made with actual malice are not protected, even if directed at public officials. "The complaint and the motion adequately demonstrate Stewartson acted with malice." Stewartson told CNBC in a text message on Friday, "I was never served with this lawsuit. I just found out about the judgement from trolls on Twitter last week." He said that Patel's lawsuit, and another pending defamation complaint against him by former Trump national security advisor Michael Flynn in Florida state court, are "intended to intimidate me because I have been accurately and diligently reporting on Patel and Flynn's involvement in the QAnon movement and their participation on January 6th for five years." "It is a preposterous, frivolous lawsuit and neither of them will receive a dime," Stewartson said. "In fact, I intend to pursue my own case against them for their years-long campaign of abuse of me and the legal system." The FBI said that Patel would have no comment on the decision. CNBC has requested comment from his lawyers. Patel's attorneys said in a court filing in March that after filing the suit in June 2023, Stewartson for months "dodged" accepting service of the complaint, which, as a rule, is required for a civil case to proceed. The attorneys said they finally completed service of the lawsuit in late October 2023, when a person at Stewartson's home in California accepted a copy of the complaint. Gordon wrote in his order that he "found good cause to grant" a request for the default from Patel's lawyers. But Gordon also said that the motion by Patel's lawyers "offers scant evidence of harm or damages to either plaintiff." He noted that an expert's report "states that Mr. Patel's 'image has been deeply hurt by the defamation accusing him of working against the government, corruption, and crime. Apart from the business already lost, this impacts future opportunities and relationships.'" "But the report offers no examples of 'business already lost' and how Mr. Patel's image was hurt by the defamatory statements themselves, as opposed to the myriad non-defamatory attacks Mr. Patel has suffered as a result of being a public figure," Gordon wrote. "To the contrary, after the defamatory statements, Mr. Patel was confirmed by the United States Senate as Director of the F.B.I." the judge wrote. "Clearly his reputation was not significantly sullied by the defamatory statements." Gordon said there was "almost no concrete evidence of harm or damages suffered by" Patel's foundation. "All of the defamatory statements were directed at Mr. Patel individually," the judge noted. But Gordon said that both compensatory and punitive damages were warranted in the case. "Stewartson's statements were defamatory and caused presumed damages," the judge wrote. "Falsely stating as fact that a public figure 'attempted to overthrow the government,' planned the January 6 insurrection, was a 'Kremlin asset,' and paid people to 'lie to [C]ongress' ... inflicts real injuries, personally and professionally," the judge wrote. The judge awarded Patel $100,000 in compensatory damages and the same amount in punitive damages. He awarded the foundation $25,000 in compensatory damages, and the same amount in punitive damages after accepting as a reasonable estimate a claim that at least seven donors had stopped giving to the group.
New York Post
2 hours ago
- New York Post
Finger lickin' bad! Russian journalists eat this politically charged meal on flight to Trump-Putin summit
It's political fowl play! Russian reporters on a state-chartered plane from Russia to Alaska to cover Vladimir Putin's summit with Donald Trump were served a meal of chicken kyiv — in a possible troll targeting Ukraine. Margarita Simonyan, editor in chief of Russia Today, said members of the Russian press corps were given the breaded cutlets — a dish named after Ukraine's capital — on a jet headed to Anchorage for Friday's cease-fire talks. 3 Margarita Simonyan, editor in chief of Russia Today, said on X that Russian reporters heading to Alaska to cover the Trump-Putin summit were served chicken Kyiv cutlets in what is detailed as a possible troll attempt targeting Ukraine. X/M_Simonyan 'Our journalists, who flew to Alaska on a special flight, were served chicken Kyiv cutlets on the plane,' wrote Simonyan, who edits the state-run English language channel, on X. The grub prompted some squawking from critics of Russia, who called it a burn that goes beyond the food world. But 'Putin and Trump should turn [Ukrainian President Volodymyr] Zelensky into a chicken kyiv,' Kremlin propagandist Sergei Markov reportedly wrote on social media. 'There's no shortage of humor in the Kremlin.' Egor Piskunov, a reporter for the Russian state-run RT outlet who was on the plane, dubbed the dish 'a good sign for the upcoming negotiations' between Putin and Trump, according to an X post. 3 The dish is named after Ukraine's capital, and critics of Russia called the troll attempt a burn that goes beyond the food world. REUTERS 3 Kremlin propagandists and other Russian state media personnel also took to X to comment on the chicken craze that had been making a frenzy on social media before the summit begins. It was unclear if the meal, which is often served on Russian airlines because it's easy to freeze, was actually meant to be political provocation. The chicken dish, which is usually stuffed with herbs and butter, likely evolved from the 'cutlet de volaille Kiev-style' served at the Continental hotel in Kiev.
