The former Arkansas police chief who escaped prison disguised as a guard only traveled about a mile and a half before being apprehended, according to officials.
Grant Hardin, a convicted murderer and rapist, was discovered on June 6 around 3 p.m. west of the North Central Unit state prison near Moccasin Creek in Izard County, according to an Arkansas Department of Corrections spokesperson.
In a photo from his arrest, Hardin is seen sitting on the ground in a vegetated area, hands behind his back, wearing a baseball cap, a dirty T-shirt, and pants.
Hardin, 56, was serving a decades-long prison sentence for the 2017 murder of water department employee James Appleton in Gateway, Arkansas, and the 1997 rape of a schoolteacher in nearby Rogers. He’s dubbed the “Devil in the Ozarks,” and a TV documentary about his crimes will air in 2023.
According to court records, his escape on May 25 involved dressing up in a makeshift outfit to disguise himself as a corrections officer, tricking a real officer into opening a gate, and walking out the medium-security facility. Champion said he will now be housed at the Varner Unit in Gould, Arkansas, which has high security.
Here’s everything we know about Hardin’s capture and escape:
How was Hardin caught, ending 12-day manhunt?
Authorities said tracking dogs detected Hardin’s scent and led them to him. Hundreds of law enforcement officers at the local, state, and federal levels searched for Hardin for nearly two weeks, using dogs, drones, and aircraft, which were occasionally hampered by severe weather.
Moccasin Creek, where he was discovered, has had high water levels due to heavy rainfall in the last two weeks, which may have limited Hardin’s ability to move around. It also kept authorities from finding him sooner. Champion stated that search teams had previously searched the area but were unable to conduct a thorough investigation due to high water.
Though Hardin was previously thought to have fled the state, Champion said investigators now believe he never got very far from the prison. He was fingerprinted and assessed at the North Central Unit before being transferred to the Varner Unit, according to Champion. He’ll be interviewed in the coming days.
How did he escape?
Hardin escaped from the prison on May 25 in a “makeshift outfit designed to mimic law enforcement,” according to the Arkansas Department of Corrections.
“Inmate Hardin impersonated a corrections officer in dress and manner, causing the Corrections Officer operating a secure gate to open the gate and allow Inmate Hardin to walk away from the North Central Unit,” Special Agent Dennis Simons of the Izard County Sheriff’s Office stated in an arrest affidavit.
A photo from surveillance footage showed Hardin wearing the outfit and pushing a loaded cart as he fled. Champion stated that Hardin had been gone for about 20 minutes when an officer noticed his absence.
His escape occurred during a weeks-long search for escaped inmates in Louisiana. On May 16, ten inmates escaped from a New Orleans jail; two are still on the run as of June 7.
Who is Grant Hardin?
Hardin pleaded guilty to Appleton’s murder on February 23, 2017. Andrew Tillman, Appleton’s brother-in-law and Gateway mayor at the time, told police that he was on the phone with him while Appleton was driving his truck.
Tillman told investigators that Appleton pulled over to avoid losing signal while on the phone with him. Tillman heard what sounded like a car door slam shut, and then nothing. A witness also told police that he saw someone pull over behind the truck in a car and heard a gunshot, identifying the driver as Hardin. Appleton was discovered dead in his truck with a gunshot wound to the side of his head and face.
Following his conviction, his DNA was matched to that of an unsolved rape case from 1997, in which a teacher claimed she was attacked at school by a man who held her at gunpoint, according to court documents. Hardin pleaded guilty to rape-related charges.
Hardin’s convictions totaled 80 years in prison.
According to the Associated Press, Hardin served as Gateway’s chief of police for approximately four months in 2016. He was also let go from other police departments, according to local media.
