Latest news with #KHBS
UPI
31-07-2025
- UPI
Man, 28, arrested in deaths of couple hiking in Arkansas State Park
July 30 (UPI) -- A 28-year-old man has been arrested in the deaths of a couple hiking at a northwest Arkansas state park, state police said Wednesday night. James Andrew McGann, of Springdale, Ark., was arrested and faces two counts of capital murder, the state agency said in a news release. He was apprehended at 4:57 p.m. CDT while getting a haircut, KHBS reported. Special Agents with the Arkansas State Police have arrested James Andrew McGann, 28, of Springdale, in connection to a double homicide that occurred on Saturday, July 26, 2025, at Devil's Den State Arkansas State Police (@ARStatePolice) July 31, 2025 Authorities didn't reveal whether there was a link between the suspect and the victims. Clinton David Brink, 43, and his wife, Cristen Amanda Brink, 41, were killed at Devil's Den State Park near Fayetteville in Washington County on Saturday afternoon, state police said. The couple, who recently moved to Prairie Grove from another state, were hiking with their daughters, 7 and 9, who were not injured. They are safe and in the custody of relatives, police said. "I'm extremely grateful for the long hours and dedication that our Agents put forward in bringing justice to this family," ASP Col. Mike Hagar said. "The collaboration between State Police, other state and local law enforcement agencies, and our federal partners has been second to none. Because of their hard work and investigative skill, we were able to take a monster off the streets, and bring relief to those two precious girls, and the rest of our citizens." On Tuesday, a photo showing the back of a person of interest and a composite sketch were released. The suspect was described as a White male with a medium build and short hair who was wearing a dark baseball cap, sunglasses, dark pants and a long-sleeved shirt with the sleeves rolled up, according to the state agency. There was a description of his vehicle: a black sedan that was possibly a Mazda. It had tape over its license plate while at the park. The 2,500-acre park is in a remote and rural area, including rugged terrain with thick vegetation and no cellphone service. The park includes several trails and 20 miles for horseback riding. The park is in Lee Creek Valley of the Boston Mountains, which are part of the Ozarks. It was selected as a state park in the 1930s, and developed by the Civilian Conservation Corps, a work relief program established during the Great Depression. Devil's Den State Park was named one of the most beautiful state parks in America by @thetravlens. This park is an Arkansas icon, nestled in Lee Creek Valley. This stunning view is on the Yellow Rock trail at the park ! #ARStateParks #VisitArkansas Arkansas State Parks (@ArkStateParks) January 28, 2023 Police were dispatched at 2:40 p.m. local time Saturday. Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders said Wednesday in a statement on X: "No news can heal the enormous harm done to the Brink family in last weekend's crime, but this announcement is a comfort and reassurance for our State. "Let there be no mistake -- we do not tolerate violent crime in Arkansas. If you target innocent people, law enforcement will hunt you down and bring you to justice."
Yahoo
06-06-2025
- Yahoo
Ex-Arkansas police chief, serving time for murder and rape, escapes prison
A former police chief in Arkansas sentenced to prison for rape and first-degree murder remains on the run after escaping a state facility in a disguise, a department of corrections spokesperson confirmed on May 26. Grant Hardin, 56, escaped from the North Central Unit in Calico Rock, Arkansas, at 2:55 p.m. local time on May 25 wearing a "makeshift outfit designed to mimic law enforcement," according to the Arkansas Department of Corrections. The former Gateway, Arkansas, police chief was imprisoned in 2017. "We've had a lot of rain and it's hampered the search efforts for most of the day," Rand Champion, an Arkansas Department of Corrections spokesperson, told USA TODAY. "But it looks like the rain should subside, and hopefully, that will help." Champion said Hardin was only gone for about 20 minutes before an officer noticed he was missing. Hardin was sentenced in Benton County in 2017 to 30 years in prison for murder, according to his corrections department profile. He was then sentenced in 2019 to 25 years for rape. Sheriff Brandon Long of Stone County, which borders Calico Rock, said in a Facebook post that Hardin escaped through a secure entryway wearing a fake Department of Corrections uniform. A photo shared by the sheriff's office shows Hardin pushing a cart loaded with materials. Authorities consider Hardin "extremely dangerous." Officials are also investigating the events that led to Hardin's escape. The Arkansas Department of Corrections, Arkansas State Police, and local police are working to find Hardin, officials said. Police K-9 units are also searching for Hardin, Champion said. Hardin was serving decades-long sentences at the North Central Unit facility near the Missouri border in Calico Rock, Arkansas. The facility is located about 130 miles north of Little Rock, Arkansas, and can hold around 800 prisoners, according to the Department of Corrections. The facility is also about 130 miles east of the tiny Arkansas town of Gateway, where Hardin served as police chief, and near his last known address in Garfield, Arkansas, according to the corrections department. "He does have a law enforcement background," Champion said, KHBS/KHOG-TV reported. "Anytime something like this exists, we consider it a threat to the community." Hardin pleaded guilty in 2017 to shooting and killing James Appleton, according to KHBS/KHOG-TV. Appleton was killed in his truck in February of that year. His brother-in-law told police that he was on the phone with Appleton when a car sped down the road and stopped next to Appleton's. A witness said he saw a white sedan next to Appleton's truck, heard a boom, and saw the sedan leave. The witness found Appleton shot in the head in the truck, KHBS/KHOG-TV reported. Police in Rogers, Arkansas, another town in Benton County, used DNA evidence in 2018 to link Hardin to the 1997 rape of a school teacher, KHBS/KHOG-TV reported. The woman told police a man raped her when she had left her classroom for the restroom. He was disguised with a knit stocking and sunglasses and carried a pistol, according to KHBS/KHOG-TV. Hardin bounced around police departments before becoming the top cop in Gateway, according to KHBS/KHOG-TV and the Associated Press. He was with the Fayetteville Police Department from Aug. 6, 1990, to May 22, 1991, according to KHBS/KHOG-TV. The department's chief of police then said he terminated Hardin because his efforts "fall short of the average probationary officer" and that he had a "tendency to not accept constructive criticism along with indecisiveness under stressful situations." A spell at the Eureka Springs Police Department, from April 1993 to October 1996, was marred by excessive uses of force and poor decisions on the job, the department's former police chief said, according to 40/29. Hardin was the chief of police for Gateway for about four months at the start of 2016, according to the Associated Press. The man he killed, Appleton, was the brother-in-law of the town's mayor. Hardin's flight is just the latest high-profile escape in the nation. In New Orleans, 10 inmates – including some charged with murder – broke out of an Orleans Parish jail earlier in May. Louisiana State Police announced the arrests of three more inmates in the brazen prison escape. Authorities said two escapees, Derrick Groves, 27, and Antoine Massey, 32, remain at large. Groves, 27, was convicted of two charges of second-degree murder and two charges of attempted second-degree murder in October in connection with a shooting during Mardi Gras in 2018, according to a statement from the district attorney's office. Massey was charged with domestic abuse involving strangulation and theft of a motor vehicle, according to Orleans Parish records. Authorities initially suspected that other individuals helped with their escape from the prison. At least seven people have been arrested and charged with helping the inmates, including a fellow inmate accused of collaborating with the escapees. 'Fear of retribution' in New Orleans: Mass jail escape brings a big uneasy "As I promised when we initiated our investigation, we will hold absolutely everyone who contributed any role to the prison break in New Orleans accountable," Louisiana Attorney General Liz Murrill said. Contributing: Jeanine Santucci (This story was updated to add new information and video.) This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Former Arkansas police chief sentenced for murder escapes prison
Yahoo
28-05-2025
- General
- Yahoo
From police chief to escaped murderer: Timeline of Arkansas manhunt for Grant Hardin
He's been described as a "sociopath," and "evil" by those who have encountered him, but now Grant Hardin, the former police chief of a small Arkansas town who was imprisoned for murder and rape, is the subject of a massive manhunt since escaping from a correctional facility this week. Hardin, 56, who was briefly police chief in the town of Gateway, near the Arkansas-Missouri border, simply walked out of a guarded gate at the North Central Unit in Calico Rock, Arkansas, on Sunday afternoon, according to a probable cause affidavit charging him with second-degree escape. Hardin was dressed as a law enforcement officer pushing a loading cart in surveillance video that captured him absconding from the prison. MORE: 'Evil man': Search continues for ex-police chief who escaped Arkansas prison "Inmate Hardin impersonated a corrections officer in dress and manner, causing the corrections officer operating the gate to open the gate and allow inmate Hardin to walk away from the North Central Unit," according to the affidavit filed Tuesday in an Izard County court. As police continue to scour the Ozark Mountains for the fugitive, here is a timeline of the violent crimes that got him sentenced to 80 years in prison -- and the brazen escape that has prompted national headlines: Feb. 23, 2017 -- James Appleton, a 59-year-old water department worker for the city of Garfield, Arkansas, in Benton County, is shot in the head and killed by Hardin, prosecutors said. Appleton's body was moved to a car, where investigators found him. October 2017 -- Hardin pleads guilty to murder after the fatal shooting of Appleton. He is sentenced to 30 years in prison. The former police chief never revealed a motive for killing Appleton. Following Hardin's escape, former Benton County, Arkansas, prosecutor Nathan Smith, who helped put Hardin in prison, told ABC News' affiliate station KHBS in Fayetteville, Arkansas, that Hardin is a "sociopath." Smith added, "He's extremely dangerous. He's already proven that he has no moral core or center." MORE: 'Sociopath': Former Arkansas police chief sentenced for murder and rape escapes from prison Amid the ongoing search for Hardin, Appleton's sister, Cheryl Tilman, now the mayor of Gateway, describes Hardin in an interview with KHBS as "an evil man." Feb. 8, 2019 -- While serving his stentence for killing Appleton, Hardin pleads guilty to the 1997 rape of an elementary school teacher in her classroom in Rogers, Arkansas, authorities said. The Rogers Police Department linked Hardin to the rape by matching DNA found at the crime scene to a DNA sample Hardin submitted upon entering prison. He was sentenced to an additional 50 years. May 2023 -- HBO Max releases the real-crime documentary "Devil in the Ozarks" that detailed the rape of the Rogers school teacher and two-decade investigation to bring the perpetrator to justice. May 25, 2025 -- Arkansas Department of Corrections officials announce that Hardin escaped from the North Central Unit prison, while posing as a corrections officer. Surveillance video recorded Hardin at 2:50 p.m. local time pushing a loading cart and wearing what authorities initially described as the type of dark colored uniform worn by Arkansas Department of Corrections (ADC) officers. He was waved through the sally port from which he escaped by a Corrections officer. authorities said. ADC officials later said that Hardin was "wearing a makeshift outfit designed to mimic law enforcement." May 26, 2025 -- The U.S. Marshals Eastern Arkansas Fugitive Task Force announces it is assisting the Izard County Sheriff's Office in the search for Hardin, as officers from multiple law enforcement agencies searched the North Central Unit facility looking for the fugitive. Officers are seen by an ABC News crew stopping and searching vehicles and going door-to-door in communities around the prison. "An active search remains in effect involving a number of law enforcement agencies from across the state," an ADC spokesperson said. May 28, 2025 -- The search for Hardin continues. From police chief to escaped murderer: Timeline of Arkansas manhunt for Grant Hardin originally appeared on
28-05-2025
From police chief to escaped murderer: Timeline of Arkansas manhunt for Grant Hardin
He's been described as a "sociopath," and "evil" by those who have encountered him, but now Grant Hardin, the former police chief of a small Arkansas town who was imprisoned for murder and rape, is the subject of a massive manhunt since escaping from a correctional facility this week. Hardin, 56, who was briefly police chief in the town of Gateway, near the Arkansas-Missouri border, simply walked out of a guarded gate at the North Central Unit in Calico Rock, Arkansas, on Sunday afternoon, according to a probable cause affidavit charging him with second-degree escape. Hardin was dressed as a law enforcement officer pushing a loading cart in surveillance video that captured him absconding from the prison. "Inmate Hardin impersonated a corrections officer in dress and manner, causing the corrections officer operating the gate to open the gate and allow inmate Hardin to walk away from the North Central Unit," according to the affidavit filed Tuesday in an Izard County court. As police continue to scour the Ozark Mountains for the fugitive, here is a timeline of the violent crimes that got him sentenced to 80 years in prison -- and the brazen escape that has prompted national headlines: Feb. 23, 2017 -- James Appleton, a 59-year-old water department worker for the city of Garfield, Arkansas, in Benton County, is shot in the head and killed by Hardin, prosecutors said. Appleton's body was moved to a car, where investigators found him. October 2017 -- Hardin pleads guilty to murder after the fatal shooting of Appleton. He is sentenced to 30 years in prison. The former police chief never revealed a motive for killing Appleton. Following Hardin's escape, former Benton County, Arkansas, prosecutor Nathan Smith, who helped put Hardin in prison, told ABC News' affiliate station KHBS in Fayetteville, Arkansas, that Hardin is a "sociopath." Smith added, "He's extremely dangerous. He's already proven that he has no moral core or center." Amid the ongoing search for Hardin, Appleton's sister, Cheryl Tilman, now the mayor of Gateway, describes Hardin in an interview with KHBS as "an evil man." Feb. 8, 2019 -- While serving his stentence for killing Appleton, Hardin pleads guilty to the 1997 rape of an elementary school teacher in her classroom in Rogers, Arkansas, authorities said. The Rogers Police Department linked Hardin to the rape by matching DNA found at the crime scene to a DNA sample Hardin submitted upon entering prison. He was sentenced to an additional 50 years. May 2023 -- HBO Max releases the real-crime documentary "Devil in the Ozarks" that detailed the rape of the Rogers school teacher and two-decade investigation to bring the perpetrator to justice. May 25, 2025 -- Arkansas Department of Corrections officials announce that Hardin escaped from the North Central Unit prison, while posing as a corrections officer. Surveillance video recorded Hardin at 2:50 p.m. local time pushing a loading cart and wearing what authorities initially described as the type of dark colored uniform worn by Arkansas Department of Corrections (ADC) officers. He was waved through the sally port from which he escaped by a Corrections officer. authorities said. ADC officials later said that Hardin was "wearing a makeshift outfit designed to mimic law enforcement." May 26, 2025 -- The U.S. Marshals Eastern Arkansas Fugitive Task Force announces it is assisting the Izard County Sheriff's Office in the search for Hardin, as officers from multiple law enforcement agencies searched the North Central Unit facility looking for the fugitive. Officers are seen by an ABC News crew stopping and searching vehicles and going door-to-door in communities around the prison. May 28, 2025 -- The search for Hardin continues.
28-05-2025
'Evil man': Search continues for ex-police chief who escaped Arkansas prison
The manhunt continues for Grant Hardin, the escaped former Arkansas police chief serving a 30-year sentence for murder and rape, as officials enter their fourth day of search efforts. Grant Hardin, 56, who has been in prison since 2017 for first-degree murder and rape, escaped the Calico Rock North Central Unit on Sunday at approximately 2:50 p.m., the Stone County Sheriff's Office said in a statement. Hardin escaped custody through a sally port by impersonating a corrections officer "in dress and manner," which caused another corrections officer "operating a secure gate to open the gate and allow Hardin to walk away from the North Central Unit," according to an affidavit obtained by ABC News. Surveillance footage shows Hardin pulling a cart, which was found abandoned outside the gates of the prison. Hardin remains at large on Wednesday. Officials said citizens in Izard County and surrounding counties should "stay vigilant, lock your house and vehicle doors and report any suspicious activity by calling 911 immediately," according to the Izard County Sheriff's Office. The U.S. Marshals and Eastern Arkansas Fugitive Task Force are also assisting in the search efforts, a spokesperson for the U.S. Marshals said on Tuesday. "I am very scared that this guy is going to hurt or kill somebody before this is over with," Stone County Sheriff Brandon Long told ABC News. Hardin, who was the former police chief of Gateway, Arkansas, worked in the prison kitchen, according to a spokesperson from the department of corrections, but it is unclear whether this job involved any access to the sally port he used to escape. He has had no significant disciplinary issues during his time at the prison, and there is no reason to believe anyone aided him in this escape, officials said. Nathan Smith, the former Benton County prosecutor who helped put Hardin behind bars, told Arkansas ABC affiliate KHBS the escaped inmate is "a sociopath." "He has no moral core or center that would prevent him from doing anything," Smith told KHBS. Hardin is "considered to be extremely dangerous and should not be approached," officials said. Authorities are using helicopters, drones, K9 officers and ATVs in their search for Hardin. Rugged terrain, densely wooded areas, hills and days of rain have been "hindering the ongoing search," a spokesperson with the department of corrections said. Deputies are continuing to monitor the roadways near the prison and are conducting security checkpoints in the area, officials said. Hardin pleaded guilty in October 2017 to first-degree murder in connection with the shooting death of 59-year-old James Appleton, according to The Associated Press. He was also convicted of the 1997 rape of an elementary school teacher in Rogers, Arkansas, a crime highlighted in the 2023 television documentarty "Devil in the Ozarks." Cheryl Tillman, the mayor of Gateway, Arkansas, and Appleton's sister, told KHBS that Hardin is "an evil man" and said his escape is "almost like déjà vu all over again." Hardin is described as 6 feet tall and weighing 259 pounds.
