A former Arkansas police chief convicted of murder and rape is on the run after escaping from prison while dressed in a makeshift law enforcement outfit.
Grant Hardin, 56, broke out of the North Central Unit in Calico Rock around 3:40 p.m. on Sunday, May 25, according to the Arkansas Department of Corrections. Surveillance footage shows Hardin wearing a dark cap and vest resembling correctional officer gear as he wheeled away wooden pallets and a box just under an hour before his escape.
Officials emphasized that Hardin was not wearing an official Department of Corrections uniform and that all DOC-issued gear remains accounted for.
Authorities warn that Hardin is considered “extremely dangerous and should not be approached.” The Arkansas State Police urges anyone with information to contact local law enforcement immediately.
Hardin, a former police chief in the small town of Gateway near the Arkansas-Missouri border, was arrested in 2017 for the first-degree murder of 59-year-old James Appleton, an employee of the Gateway Water Department.
Appleton was gunned down while speaking with his brother-in-law, the then-mayor of Gateway. Hardin pleaded guilty later that year and received a 30-year prison sentence.
In 2018, while serving time for murder, Hardin was charged with the 1997 rape of Amy Harrison, an elementary school teacher in Rogers.
Harrison was assaulted at gunpoint in a school bathroom while preparing lesson plans during a church service. DNA collected during the murder investigation matched samples from the decades-old rape case.
In 2019, Hardin pleaded guilty to two counts of rape and was sentenced to two consecutive 25-year terms.
