Latest news with #prisonescape
CTV News
15 hours ago
- General
- CTV News
Over 100 inmates escape from a Pakistan prison after an earthquake evacuation in Karachi
Police officer and paramilitary soldiers stand guard outside the district Malir prison, from where more than 100 inmates escaped overnight, in Karachi, Pakistan, Tuesday, June 3, 2025. (AP Photo/Ali Raza) KARACHI, Pakistan — More than 100 inmates escaped from a prison and at least one was killed in a shootout in the southern Pakistani city of Karachi overnight after they were temporarily moved out of their cells following mild earthquake tremors, officials said Tuesday. Kashif Abbasi, a senior police official, said 216 inmates fled the prison in the capital of Sindh province before dawn. Of those, 78 had been recaptured. No one convicted or facing trial as a militant is among those who fled, he said. One prisoner was killed and three security officials were wounded in the ensuing shootout, but the situation has been brought under control, Abbasi said, adding that police are conducting raids to capture the remaining escapees. Ziaul Hassan, the home minister of Sindh province, said the jailbreak occurred after prisoners were evacuated from their cells for safety during the earthquake. The inmates were still outside of the cells when a group suddenly attacked guards, seized their weapons, opened fire and fled. The superintendent of Malir prison, Arshad Shah, said the inmates fled toward a nearby residential area. According to residents, police later used mosque loudspeakers to alert them to the jailbreak and seek help in arresting the escapees. Sindh Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah, who is not related to the prison official, asked the escapees in televised comments to voluntarily return, saying they had only been involved in minor crimes until that point. But he said they could face terror charges if they are arrested by police on the jailbreak charge. Though prisoners have escaped while being transported to court for trial, prison breaks are not common in Pakistan, where authorities have enhanced security since 2013 when the Pakistani Taliban freed more than 200 inmates in an attack on a prison in the northwestern district of Dera Ismail Khan. Karachi has experienced several mild and shallow earthquakes in the past 24 hours, ranging from 2.6 to 3.4 in magnitude, according to the National Seismic Monitoring Center. The Associated Press
Arab News
19 hours ago
- General
- Arab News
Over 100 inmates escape from a Pakistan prison after an earthquake evacuation in Karachi
KARACHI: More than 100 inmates escaped from a prison and at least one was killed in a shootout in the southern city of Karachi overnight after they were temporarily moved out of their cells following mild earthquake tremors, officials said Tuesday. Kashif Abbasi, a senior police official, said 216 inmates who were involved in ordinary crimes fled the prison in the capital of Sindh province before dawn. Of those, 78 had been recaptured. No one convicted or facing trial as a militant is among those who fled, he said. One prisoner was killed and three security officials were wounded in the ensuing shootout, but the situation has been brought under control, Abbasi said, adding that police are conducting raids to capture the remaining escapees. Ziaul Hassan, the home minister of Sindh province, said the jailbreak occurred after prisoners were evacuated from their cells for safety during the earthquake. The inmates were still outside of the cells when a group suddenly attacked guards, seized their weapons, opened fire and fled. Though prisoners have escaped while being transporting to court for trial, prison beaks are not common in Pakistan, where authorities have enhanced security since 2013 when the Pakistani Taliban freed more than 200 inmates in an attack on a prison in the northwestern Dera Ismail Khan district.
Yahoo
4 days ago
- General
- Yahoo
Former Arkansas police chief Grant Hardin's prison escape offers unique challenges to searchers: experts
The former Arkansas police chief who escaped prison on Sunday may have an "edge" compared to other escapees due to his past in law enforcement, experts say. Former Gateway Police Department Chief Grant Hardin, 56, escaped from the North Central Unit, a medium-security prison, Sunday afternoon in Calico Rock, according to the Arkansas Department of Corrections (ADC). Nicknamed the "Devil in the Ozarks," Hardin was serving decades in prison for murder and rape. Eric Brown, a 24-year U.S. Army Special Forces veteran and CEO of Imperio Consulting, told Fox News Digital that a former police chief like Hardin "has a working knowledge of law enforcement procedures, patrol routines and how search operations are typically structured." "That gives him an initial edge. He knows how law enforcement thinks," Brown told Fox News Digital. 'Devil In The Ozarks' Who Escaped Prison Likely Still In Arkansas Area: Officials Law enforcement officials "will likely lean on geo-fencing, license plate readers, and known associate surveillance," Brown added. Read On The Fox News App "If he's on foot, dogs, drones and thermal imaging tighten the noose," Brown said. "Establishing a perimeter means thinking like the fugitive, assessing terrain, choke points and logical escape routes. Officials are watching for movement: stolen vehicles, property break-ins, supply thefts, even unusual local chatter. The key is pattern disruption." 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 ADC communications director Rand Champion said the uniform he was wearing was not official. Louisiana Ag Confident Remaining Jailbreak Fugitives Will Be Recaptured After Officials Make 14Th Arrest Angelo Brown, Ph.D., assistant professor of criminology at Arkansas State University, similarly told Fox News Digital that law enforcement officials will likely be using drones and infrared camera technology to search heavily wooded areas in Stone County, where Hardin escaped, which is located just east of the Ozark Mountains. Hardin has ties to Garfield, Eureka Springs, Holiday Island and Huntsville, according to the FBI. Angelo Brown said Hardin's police chief experience means he likely has ties to law enforcement officials who may help him, and he will avoid making "simple mistakes that a lot of people on the run make, like going to relatives' homes, using… cellphones, credit cards, things like that." Botched Crime Scene Handling Could Derail Prosecution Of Orleans Parish Jail Escapees, Former Fbi Agent Says "Getting away, that's still very unlikely. Especially now, even if it is state-level corruption… the federal government's involved in this search and investigation, the state police, various agencies are working on this. So, I think law enforcement is doing everything they can to keep people safe," he said, noting, however, that it is impossible to "mitigate the risk completely" with a fugitive on the run. Champion said during a Wednesday news conference that authorities are fairly confident in the route they believe Hardin took when he escaped and his current location. "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 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. Hardin was sentenced to 30 years for murder plus additional time for rape. Manhunt Underway After Disgraced Former Police Chief Convicted Of Murder, Rape Escapes Arkansas Prison 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 linked 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 recaptured while two remain at large. Hardin is described as a 6-foot White male, weighing approximately 259 pounds. The FBI is offering a $20,000 reward for information leading to his recapture and 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 article source: Former Arkansas police chief Grant Hardin's prison escape offers unique challenges to searchers: experts
Fox News
4 days ago
- General
- Fox News
Former Arkansas police chief Grant Hardin's prison escape offers unique challenges to searchers: experts
The former Arkansas police chief who escaped prison on Sunday may have an "edge" compared to other escapees due to his past in law enforcement, experts say. Former Gateway Police Department Chief Grant Hardin, 56, escaped from the North Central Unit, a medium-security prison, Sunday afternoon in Calico Rock, according to the Arkansas Department of Corrections (ADC). Nicknamed the "Devil in the Ozarks," Hardin was serving decades in prison for murder and rape. Eric Brown, a 24-year U.S. Army Special Forces veteran and CEO of Imperio Consulting, told Fox News Digital that a former police chief like Hardin "has a working knowledge of law enforcement procedures, patrol routines and how search operations are typically structured." "That gives him an initial edge. He knows how law enforcement thinks," Brown told Fox News Digital. Law enforcement officials "will likely lean on geo-fencing, license plate readers, and known associate surveillance," Brown added. "But every fugitive makes mistakes." "If he's on foot, dogs, drones and thermal imaging tighten the noose," Brown said. "Establishing a perimeter means thinking like the fugitive, assessing terrain, choke points and logical escape routes. Officials are watching for movement: stolen vehicles, property break-ins, supply thefts, even unusual local chatter. The key is pattern disruption." 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 ADC communications director Rand Champion said the uniform he was wearing was not official. Angelo Brown, Ph.D., assistant professor of criminology at Arkansas State University, similarly told Fox News Digital that law enforcement officials will likely be using drones and infrared camera technology to search heavily wooded areas in Stone County, where Hardin escaped, which is located just east of the Ozark Mountains. Hardin has ties to Garfield, Eureka Springs, Holiday Island and Huntsville, according to the FBI. Angelo Brown said Hardin's police chief experience means he likely has ties to law enforcement officials who may help him, and he will avoid making "simple mistakes that a lot of people on the run make, like going to relatives' homes, using… cellphones, credit cards, things like that." "Getting away, that's still very unlikely. Especially now, even if it is state-level corruption… the federal government's involved in this search and investigation, the state police, various agencies are working on this. So, I think law enforcement is doing everything they can to keep people safe," he said, noting, however, that it is impossible to "mitigate the risk completely" with a fugitive on the run. Champion said during a Wednesday news conference that authorities are fairly confident in the route they believe Hardin took when he escaped and his current location. "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 Stone County. "As of this time, they are still very confident that he is in the area," Champion said. 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. 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 linked 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 recaptured while two remain at large. Hardin is described as a 6-foot White male, weighing approximately 259 pounds. The FBI is offering a $20,000 reward for information leading to his recapture and is asking tipsters to call 1-800-CALL-FBI with any information concerning the escapee.
CTV News
5 days ago
- General
- CTV News
Authorities eyeing whether a kitchen job had a role in the ‘Devil in the Ozarks' prison escape
A flier looking for Grant Hardin hangs on the glass of a business, Thursday, May 29, 2025, in downtown Calico Rockt, Ark. (AP Photo/Nicholas Ingram) CALICO ROCK, Ark. — Arkansas authorities are looking at whether a job in the prison kitchen played a role in the weekend escape of a convicted former police chief known as the 'Devil in the Ozarks.' Grant Hardin, 56, was housed in a maximum-security wing of the medium-security Calico Rock prison, where he also held a job in the kitchen, Arkansas Department of Corrections spokesperson Rand Champion said Thursday. Authorities have said Hardin escaped Sunday by donning an outfit designed to look like a law enforcement uniform. 'His job assignment was in the kitchen, so just looking to see if that played a part in it as well,' Champion told The Associated Press. The kitchen is divided into two shifts of about 25 workers each, according to a 2021 accreditation report that involved an extensive review of the prison. In the kitchen, 'tools and utensils were stored on shadow boards with proper controls for sign out/in of all tools,' the report states. 'A check of the inventory control sheets found them to be accurate and up to date.' The kitchen is in one of 16 buildings on over 700 acres (280 hectares) of prison land. The sprawling grounds include a garden, two greenhouses, and extensive pasture lands where a herd of more than 100 horses is raised and trained by staff and inmates. Hardin, the former police chief in the small town of Gateway near the Arkansas-Missouri border, was serving lengthy sentences for murder and rape. He was the subject of the TV documentary 'Devil in the Ozarks.' A prison expert said corrections officials are likely investigating whether the kitchen job gave Hardin access to other parts of the prison or to tools in the kitchen that could have helped him, including fashioning the makeshift uniform. Bryce Peterson, a criminal justice expert at security-based research organization CNA, said prison escapes are usually a combination of motivation and opportunity. 'You wouldn't immediately think of a kitchen as a source of a bunch of escape tools,' Peterson said. 'But these people are really smart and what they're thinking about day in and day out is how they can escape if that's what their motivation is.' Local, state and federal law enforcement are continuing their search for Hardin, and the FBI announced Thursday it was offering a reward of up to $10,000 for information leading to his arrest. Champion said officials remained confident that Hardin was in the north-central Arkansas area. Officials have said there are plenty of hideouts in the Ozark Mountains area, from caves to campsites. Authorities on Thursday continued to stop cars at a checkpoint near Calico Rock, and fliers featuring photos of Hardin could be seen in local store windows. Elsewhere Thursday, a sheriff's office in southern Missouri said it had received a report of a sighting of someone resembling Hardin's description in the Moody/Bakersfield area, less than an hour's drive north of Calico Rock. Deputies with the Howell County Sheriff's Office responded but were unable to locate anyone though agents were continuing to canvass the area, the agency said in a Facebook post. 'At this time, we have no information indicating with any degree of certainty this suspicious person was the escapee or that he is even in the state of Missouri,' the post said. Champion said Arkansas authorities were aware of the tip and were looking into it. The department late Wednesday said search teams also responded to Faulkner County in the central Arkansas area after receiving a tip. Champion did not immediately know how many other inmates were housed in the prison's maximum-security wing. Hardin's assignment to the prison, formally known as the North Central Unit, has drawn questions from legislators in the area and family members of the former chief's victims. Hardin received culinary training at some point during his incarceration, said Cheryl Tillman, whose brother James Appleton was shot to death by Hardin in 2017. Tillman said she was aware that Hardin had been working in the kitchen at the Calico Rock prison and questioned why he would be allowed to do so. 'It sounds like to me that he was given free range down there,' she said this week during an interview. Now that he's free, 'it makes it uneasy for all of us, the whole family,' she said. DeMillo reported from Little Rock, Arkansas, Martin from Atlanta, and Riddle from Montgomery, Alabama. Nick Ingram, Andrew Demillo, Jeff Martin And Safiyah Riddle, The Associated Press
