Former police chief convicted of murder and rape escapes Arkansas prison
County authorities warned the public that convicted murderer Grant Hardin is urgently wanted after escaping from prison.
Arkansas Department of Corrections and Arkansas State Police are searching for Grant Hardin.
Arkansas authorities issued an "urgent search and seizure" notice Monday after a former police chief serving time for murder and rape escaped from prison on Sunday.
The Arkansas Department of Corrections said that Grant Hardin, 56, escaped from the North Central Unit on the afternoon of May 25 in Calico Rock, AR.
"Anyone with information about inmate Hardin's whereabouts should contact local law enforcement immediately," they posted on X.
">FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE –
— Arkansas Department of Corrections (@ADCPIO) May 25, 2025
CALICO ROCK – 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. pic.twitter.com/RZZ8I2hMc4
According to the Stone County Sheriff's Office, he is considered extremely dangerous and should not be approached.
Authorities determined that Hardin was wearing makeshift clothing designed to resemble law enforcement when he escaped from jail. He was not wearing a Department of Corrections uniform.
Officers explained that Hardin had been at the North Central Unit since 2017, serving a 30-year sentence for first-degree murder, along with an additional 50-year sentence for rape.
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Ex-police chief sentenced for rape and murder
The jail added in its release that Grant Hardin is the former chief of police for the city of Gateway.
In 2017, he pleaded guilty to the murder of James Appleton, 59, a city water employee who was found shot in the face inside his work truck, according to KNWA.
However, after Hardin entered state prison, authorities submitted his DNA sample to a database, which linked him to an unsolved 1997 rape case involving a teacher, for which he was also tried.
The victim, Amy Harrison, a teacher at Frank Tillery Elementary School in Rogers, said she was raped at gunpoint while at school. Harrison was ambushed while preparing a lesson plan for the week. The case remained unsolved for nearly two decades.
Hardin also pleaded guilty to the rape in 2019.
Mass prisoner escape
Photos released by the sheriff’s office showed the inside of the cell where the escape took place, revealing a large hole behind the toilet that the inmates had opened. Above the hole, the prisoners—at least four of whom face charges of murder or attempted murder—had written phrases like “We Innocent” and “Too Easy LOL.”
Minutes after the escape was confirmed, Sheriff Susan Hutson issued a statement suggesting that some staff members may have assisted the prisoners.
So far, eight of the fugitives have been recaptured.
Authorities have launched a search for the fugitive. Hardin is described as a 6-foot-6, 259-pound (113 kg) white male, according to the authorities' post.
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