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Ex-Arkansas Police Chief Grant Hardin Recaptured After 12-Day Prison Escape

Investigators are examining how he used a makeshift uniform to bypass prison security before tracking dogs led authorities to his hideout on June 6.

(L): A photo of Grant Hardin after being found by law enforcement officials in Calico Rock, Arkansas on Friday, June 6. (R): Hardin being escorted by law enforcement officer.
FILE - Prisoners walk through a yard at the Varner Unit of Arkansas' Department of Corrections, Friday, Aug. 18, 2023, in Gould, Ark. (AP Photo/John Locher, File)
Grant Hardin, a former police chief serving time for murder and rape in northwest Arkansas, escaped from prison and was apprehended 12 days later on Friday. Photo by Arksansas Department of Corrections/X

Overview

  • Grant Hardin slipped out of the North Central Unit in Calico Rock on May 25 by donning a makeshift corrections officer uniform and tricking a gate operator.
  • Hundreds of officers from local, state and federal agencies, including the FBI and U.S. Border Patrol, deployed dogs, drones and aircraft in a 12-day manhunt.
  • Authorities apprehended Hardin at about 3 p.m. on June 6 roughly a mile and a half from the prison after tracking dogs picked up his scent near Moccasin Creek.
  • The 56-year-old was serving a combined 80-year sentence for the 2017 murder of water employee James Appleton and a 1997 rape before being moved to the Varner SuperMax Unit.
  • The Arkansas Department of Corrections is investigating security lapses that enabled the escape, and the FBI’s $10,000 reward helped generate tips leading to his arrest.