Ex-police chief, serving murder and rape sentences, escapes from Arkansas prison in disguise
A former Arkansas police chief serving decades in prison for first-degree murder and rape escaped from prison on Sunday in a "makeshift" law enforcement uniform, Arkansas Department of Corrections (DOC) officials said.
Grant Hardin, the 56-year-old former Gateway police chief, escaped at approximately 3:40 p.m. from the North Central Unit in Calico Rock, officials said. As of Sunday night, the search for Hardin was still ongoing.
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.
Hardin 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 on a separate rape case.
"He is to be considered extremely dangerous and should not be approached," Stone County sheriff's office said in a social media post.
Hardin pleaded guilty to the murder of 59-year-old Gateway city water employee James Appleton in October 2017. Appleton was talking to his brother-in-law, then Gateway Mayor Andrew Tillman, when he was shot in his car on Feb. 23, 2017, according to an affidavit filed in the case.
Hardin was the police chief of the small town near the Missouri border for about four months in early 2016. According to NBC affiliate KNWA, he also previously worked as a police officer, county constable, and corrections officer.
In February 2018, a DNA sample linked Hardin to a 1997 cold case rape of teacher Amy Harrison at Frank Tillery Elementary School. Hardin pled guilty to the rape as well and was sentenced to 50 years in prison.
The Division of Corrections and the Division of Community Corrections are working with local, state, and federal law enforcement to follow leads on Hardin's whereabouts. The ongoing search is a joint effort between the DOC and the Arkansas state police.
"Officials continue to utilize a variety of means to track Hardin, as well as investigating the events that led up to his escape," the statement read. "Further updates will be provided as they become available."
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The Guardian
34 minutes ago
- The Guardian
An ex-cop murderer and rapist broke free from prison in Arkansas. Those whose lives he shattered are ‘appalled'
The former rural Arkansas police chief Grant Hardin had earned the epithet 'devil in the Ozarks' because of the 2017 murder and separate 1997 rape to which he ultimately admitted. Then came his recent escape from prison by disguising himself as a guard and taking cover in the surrounding wilderness. Much of the US was gripped by Hardin's brazen 25 May breakout, a riveting epilogue of sorts, unfolding in real time, to the 2023 documentary whose title gave him his evocative nickname. In a criminal complaint filed after Hardin managed to flee Arkansas's Calico Rock prison by impersonating a facility corrections officer, investigators asserted that he had 'extensive knowledge' of the surrounding Ozark mountains region, had possibly been 'hiding in caves or rugged terrain' there, and may even have fled the state. It would turn out that he would be caught late on Friday afternoon less than 2 miles (3km) from the prison he had escaped from, his identity confirmed through fingerprints, according to authorities. Spectacular as those details may be to casual observers, Hardin's 13-day dash for freedom terrified those whose lives were shattered by his crimes – and those who worked to bring someone they once mistook as a fellow law enforcer to justice. A local police chief whose department had a hand in securing Hardin's plea of guilty to raping a local schoolteacher has said the survivor in the case – who has chosen to publicly identify herself as Amy Harrison – was 'appalled, concerned and disappointed', according to the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette newspaper. 'She had the opportunity to let her guard down and live her life, and we're back to the pre-conviction days,' Hayes Minor, the police chief of Rogers, Arkansas, said to the Democrat-Gazette, before Hardin was re-apprehended. Cheryl Tillman, the mayor of Gateway, Arkansas, the town of about 450 residents where Hardin spent five months as police chief before his imprisonment, told the same outlet that news of the breakout had 'brought back all the memories' of how the fugitive had fatally shot her brother, James Appleton. 'He's just an evil man,' Tillman reportedly said of Hardin, adding that she had initially been hesitant to even go to work upon learning of the breakout. 'He is no good for society.' After Hardin's recapture, the Arkansas governor, Sarah Huckabee Sanders, issued a triumphant statement on X, saying state residents could 'breathe a sigh of relief'. But that was only after they had been unnerved by admonitions from law enforcement to lock their houses as well as cars – and to report anything suspicious to authorities. As Minor put it: 'It's appalling to me that we're even having to discuss this.' Hardin, 56, began his career in law enforcement working for police in the Arkansas cities of Fayetteville, Huntsville and Eureka Springs from 1990 to 1996. Each of those communities sits in the densely forested Ozarks, the mountainous and rural region that is mostly in northern Arkansas and southern Missouri, and is popular with lovers of the outdoors. Hardin's tenure at every one of those agencies ended prematurely. Fayetteville fired him for not completing his training, the local news outlet KFSM-TV reported. He reportedly resigned from Huntsville due to personal reasons. And he quit his post at Eureka Springs after being caught lying on a police report, according to what the chief there told KFSM. Then, from 2009 to 2010 and 2013 to 2014, Hardin served two terms as a constable in Benton county, within whose limits sit the headquarters of retail giant Walmart. Constables generally respond to low-level offenses, though they also serve legal documents such as restraining orders, whereas municipal police typically do not. Finally, in January 2016, officials in the tiny Benton county town of Gateway hired him as the chief of their single-officer police force. But Hardin resigned within five months after officials recommended that he be relieved of duty over 'the way that he was treating the citizens here in Gateway', Tillman, who was a member of the town council at the time, was quoted as saying by CNN. CNN added that, as Tillman saw it, Hardin didn't react well to criticism 'and was quick to anger'. 'He was very hard to get along with,' Tillman, Gateway's mayor since 2023, also reportedly said. 'You never knew what he was going to do.' According to authorities, on 23 February 2017, Hardin – then employed as a correctional officer at a lockup in Fayetteville – and Appleton were sitting in the latter's parked pickup truck. Hardin reportedly ended that encounter by shooting and killing Appleton, the brother of Tillman, whose husband, Andrew, was Gateway's mayor at the time. A witness later informed police that he had seen Hardin – someone he had known his whole life – in a white car behind Appleton's truck. That man described hearing a loud bang as he drove past the two vehicles, and said he looked back and saw the 59-year-old Appleton's body after he had been shot in the head. Prosecutors charged Hardin with capital murder, which in Arkansas can carry life imprisonment or the death penalty. He chose to plead guilty – albeit to the reduced charge of first-degree murder – in October 2017. Hardin did not provide a motive for murdering Appleton, a Gateway water department employee who was a father and grandfather. But he offered an apology to Appleton's family, and his attorney maintained that Hardin 'understood his actions had destroyed two families: His and Appleton's', the Democrat-Gazette reported at the time. The judge presiding over the case, Robin Green, sentenced Hardin to 30 years in prison. 'Many of us, including myself, are puzzled by this senseless killing,' she said. State officials collected a genetic sample from Hardin after he pleaded guilty to murdering Appleton. Investigators subsequently determined that that sample linked him to what was then Amy Harrison's unsolved 1997 rape case in the Benton county city of Rogers. Authorities said Harrison had been attacked shortly after arriving at the elementary school where she taught to work alone in the morning. She had gone to use the restroom in the teachers' lounge, and after she emerged, she was confronted with a man holding a gun. He made her go back into the bathroom, raped her and fled. Harrison called police and reported that her rapist had been shoeless, though he had worn a stocking cap and sunglasses. She said he took her underwear and was careful to not touch any surfaces. Yet he had left semen on her leg, which she wiped on to her sweatshirt and T-shirt. That turned out to be the genetic sample with which authorities eventually identified Hardin as Harrison's assailant. In February 2019, he pleaded guilty to raping Harrison, and Green sentenced him to another 50 years in prison – leaving Hardin to face the reality that he would be about 84 before he was eligible for parole, as the Democrat-Gazette reported. Sign up to Headlines US Get the most important US headlines and highlights emailed direct to you every morning after newsletter promotion Harrison addressed Hardin on the day the already convicted murderer was sentenced for raping her. 'I know there was nothing I did to make this happen,' Harrison said as some people in Green's courtroom wept. 'I could not have done anything differently, and I definitely did not deserve to be raped. I was just choosing to do the next right thing in my life when you bumped into me.' According to the Democrat-Gazette, she added: 'I am going to use my free will to overcome the evil you did to me. I am going to walk out of this building with my family and friends and enjoy the fresh air before I go home. 'I hope that my story is an encouragement to all survivors who fight for justice.' Green asked Hardin whether he knew Harrison – whose husband was a Rogers police officer – or he targeted her at random. Hardin said the rape had been a crime of opportunity. Given the chance to address Harrison, Hardin reportedly remarked: 'I just want to say I hate my old life and hope one day you will be able to forgive me. 'I'm sorry.' About four years after Harrison and Hardin spoke in court at his sentencing, the convicted rapist and murderer was the subject of the true-crime documentary Devil in the Ozarks. Roughly two years after that film came out, Hardin was completing his punishment at Arkansas's Calico Rock prison when he slipped into clothes meant to make him look like a corrections officer. He approached an actual corrections officer stationed at a security gate, who fell for Hardin's ruse, opened up and let him saunter out, according to a sworn statement filed in court. Rand Champion, spokesperson for the Arkansas state prison system, has since said that someone should have checked Hardin's identity before he was allowed to leave the Calico Rock facility. Champion said that the lack of verification was a 'lapse' that's being investigated. A frantic, multiagency search for Hardin ensued and went deep into a second week, seizing headlines across the US alongside an unrelated, similarly dramatic 10-man jailbreak in New Orleans. In the Hardin case, search crews were aided by bloodhounds, officers on horsebacks, aerial drones and helicopters. The FBI and US marshals offered $25,000 for information leading to Hardin's recapture. Arkansas prison officials released a photo to the public showing what the fugitive may have looked like after weeks on the run. There were a couple of potential but unconfirmed sightings publicized in central Arkansas and southern Missouri. Finally, on Friday, tracking dogs picked up Hardin's scent. Arkansas law enforcement officials and US border patrol agents collared him near a creek about 1.5 miles north of the Calico Rock prison. They confirmed they had the right man through fingerprints, as KFSM reported. Cheryl Tillman told KSFM she was grateful no one had been hurt while Hardin was on the lam, and she praised those who again had successfully gone after the ex-Gateway police chief. The Arkansas corrections board chair, Benny Magness, echoed Tillman's sentiments, saying he appreciated all that had been done so that 'the community could feel safe'. Nonetheless, in a letter addressed to Magness prior to Friday, Arkansas legislators said Hardin's escape from Calico Rock was chilling because of a number of factors. 'Given Hardin's background as a former law enforcement officer and his history of working for multiple law enforcement agencies, it is evident that he possesses knowledge and skills that enabled him to exploit weaknesses in our security protocols,' said the letter from Howard Beaty and Matt McKee, Republican members of the state house and senate, respectively. 'His manipulation of the system by wearing a disguise resembling a uniform is disturbing and speaks to a broader system failure.' The Associated Press contributed reporting
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Molly Russell's father urges PM to act over online harms as ‘app cap' considered
Ian Russell, whose 14-year-old daughter took her own life after viewing harmful content on social media, urged the Prime Minister to 'act decisively' in toughening legislation to protect young people online. It comes after Cabinet minister Pete Kyle signalled he was looking at measures to restrict the amount of time children spend on their phones, including through a possible 10pm curfew. Mr Russell, who is chairman of the Molly Rose Foundation set up in his daughter's memory, said: 'Every day the Government has delayed bringing in tougher online safety laws we've seen more young lives lost and damaged because of weak regulation and inaction by big tech. 'Parents up and down the country would be delighted to see the Prime Minister act decisively to quell the tsunami of harm children face online, but sticking plasters will not do the job. 'Only a stronger and more effective Online Safety Act will finally change the dial on fundamentally unsafe products and business models that prioritise engagement over safety.' The Online Safety Act has passed into law, and from this year will require tech platforms to follow new Ofcom-issued codes of practice to keep users safe online, particularly children. Hefty fines and site blockages are among the penalties for those caught breaking the rules, but many critics have argued the approach gives tech firms too much scope to regulate themselves. Mr Kyle was asked on Sunday morning whether he would look at limiting the time children spend on social media to two hours per app after the Sunday People and Mirror reported the measure was being considered by ministers. 'I've not been able to talk publicly about what the Labour approach is because we have the legacy legislation that has to go through first,' he told the BBC's Sunday With Laura Kuenssberg show. 'This year we've had illegal content that needs to be taken down, but in July age-appropriate material must be supplied by platforms otherwise there'll be criminal sanctions against them. 'And in this time, I've been looking very carefully about what we do next.' Pressed on whether he was looking at an 'app cap', Mr Kyle said: 'I'm looking at things that prevent healthy activity, I'm looking at some of the addictive nature of some of the apps and smartphones. 'I'm trying to think how we can break some of the addictive behaviour and incentivise more of the healthy developmental… and also the good communicative side of online life.'
