A former small-town police chief in Arkansas escaped from prison Sunday while serving decades-long prison sentences for murder and rape and is still on the loose, officials said.
Grant Hardin, 56, escaped from a state prison in northern Arkansas on Sunday afternoon, after he appears to have tried to imitate law enforcement to break out, the state’s Department of Corrections said.
Multiple agencies across the state, including state police and several sheriff’s offices, are coordinating to try to find Hardin.
The escape comes after 10 inmates escaped from a New Orleans jail a little over a week ago. While seven people have been charged in relation to that escape, it is not immediately clear how Hardin orchestrated his.
Here is what we know about the former police chief:
Hardin escaped the North Central Unit prison in Calico Rock around 3:40 p.m. Sunday, a news release from the state’s Department of Corrections said.
It appears at the time of his escape, Hardin was “wearing a makeshift outfit designed to mimic law enforcement,” but was not wearing a Department of Corrections uniform, a Sunday night update from the department said. It did not share any other information on how he is thought to have escaped.
A surveillance image appears to show Hardin wearing black pants, a black T-shirt and a black baseball cap, as well as an additional item that looks like a bulletproof vest. He appears to be wheeling a cart holding a box and several pieces of wood. Authorities believe he exited through a sally port, a controlled and secure entry point found in places such as prisons, the Stone County Sheriff’s office said.
Hardin, who’s been in prison since 2017, was previously the police chief for the small town of Gateway near the Missouri border, with additional background in law enforcement.
He served as a police officer, a police chief and a county constable throughout his career, according to an Investigation Discovery documentary on the case. (Investigation Discovery, like CNN, is owned by Warner Bros. Discovery.)
Hardin has been serving a 30-year sentence for first-degree murder, as well as two 25-year sentences for two counts of rape, according to Arkansas prison records and court documents.
He pleaded guilty to first-degree murder for the death of James Appleton, who worked for the City of Gateway’s water department, in February 2017, according to court documents. Hardin was accused of stopping and shooting Appleton in the head while driving down a road approximately half a mile from his home, documents show. He pleaded down from a capital murder charge.
At the time of his sentencing, Hardin addressed the family of the victim while entering his guilty plea, saying he didn’t know how to express it, but that he was sorry, CNN affiliate KHBS reported.
Two years later, he also pleaded guilty to two counts of rape after his DNA, which was entered into the Arkansas DNA database following his murder plea, was connected to the 1997 rape of schoolteacher Amy Harrison, court documents show.
Harrison was at the school on a Sunday preparing for the week while a church service was being held in the cafeteria, an affidavit said. She used the bathroom in the teacher’s lounge, and when she came out, she was attacked by a man pointing a gun at her, the document said.
Documents show Hardin was frustrated with his court-appointed attorney following his guilty plea in the murder case, saying he had wanted to withdraw his plea and had a difficult time accessing resources to submit for post-conviction relief, court documents show.
The attorney, Shane Wilkinson, told CNN he has been in contact with local law enforcement and hasn’t heard from Hardin since his escape. Police have been conducting safety checks on his home and business since the escape, he added.
While in prison in 2019, Hardin completed a program on anger management, prison records show.
As of 11:30 p.m. local time on Sunday, Hardin still hasn’t been located, the Arkansas Department of Corrections said in an updated news release. CNN has reached out to the department and Arkansas State Police for a status on the search.
“Officials continue to utilize a variety of means to track Hardin, as well as investigating the events that led up to his escape,” the Department of Corrections said Sunday night. “Further updates will be provided as they become available.”
No updates have been provided since Sunday night.
Hardin is 6 feet tall and approximately 259 pounds, prison records show. Authorities have asked anyone who has information on his location to contact local law enforcement immediately.
