Law enforcement officials are conducting a manhunt for a former police department chief convicted of murder and rape charges who escaped from an Arkansas prison on Sunday.
In a Sunday Facebook post, the Arkansas Department of Corrections said, “On Sunday, May 25, at approximately 3:40 p.m., inmate Grant Hardin, ADC #168541, escaped from the North Central Unit. Anyone with information about inmate Hardin’s whereabouts should contact local law enforcement immediately.”
Sunday’s Facebook post explained that the Arkansas Division of Correction and the Division of Community Correction were coordinating with federal, state, and local law enforcement officials to “follow leads” as part of the manhunt for Hardin.
The Arkansas Department of Corrections noted that Hardin had a background in law enforcement and previously served as the police chief for the city of Gateway. Officials announced that the 56-year-old former police chief has been imprisoned at the North Central Unit since 2017 as part of a 30-year sentence for first-degree murder. The Arkansas Department of Corrections added that the former police chief had also been sentenced for rape.
In an update on Sunday night, the Arkansas Department of Corrections wrote, “As of 11:30 PM on Sunday, May 25, the search for inmate Grant Hardin, ADC # 168541, is ongoing. The search is a joint effort including the Department of Corrections, Arkansas State Police, and local and state law enforcement offices.”
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“It has been determined that Hardin was wearing a makeshift outfit designed to mimic law enforcement when he escaped the North Central Unit,” the Arkansas Department of Corrections added. “He was not wearing a Department of Corrections uniform, and all DOC-issued equipment has been accounted for.”
The Arkansas Department of Corrections said that law enforcement officials were using a “variety of means” to track the former police chief and to investigate the “events that led up to his escape” on Sunday.
According to CBS News, Hardin pleaded guilty in 2017 to first-degree murder in the fatal shooting of 59-year-old James Appleton.
Fox News reported that while the former police chief was being booked into prison, a DNA sample connected Hardin with the unsolved rape case of Amy Harrison, a teacher at Frank Tillery Elementary in Rogers, Arkansas. According to the outlet, Harrison claimed in 1997 that she was raped at the school by a male suspect with a gun. CBS News reported that Hardin pleaded guilty to rape charges in 2018 and was sentenced to 50 years in prison in addition to his 30-year sentence for murder.
Pictures of Hardin were shared on X, formerly Twitter, by the Arkansas Department of Corrections.
