A former Arkansas police chief serving decades in prison for first-degree murder and rape escaped from prison on Sunday in a “makeshift” law enforcement uniform, Arkansas Department of Corrections (DOC) officials said.
Grant Hardin, the 56-year-old former Gateway police chief, escaped at approximately 3:40 p.m. from the North Central Unit in Calico Rock, officials said. As of Sunday night, the search for Hardin was still ongoing.
While officials did not provide details about how Hardin escaped, the statement says he “was wearing a makeshift outfit designed to mimic law enforcement when he escaped the facility.”
“He was not wearing a Department of Corrections uniform, and all DOC-issued equipment has been accounted for,” the statement added.
Hardin has been serving a 30-year sentence on first-degree murder charges at North Central Unit since 2017, as well as a 50-year sentence on a separate rape case.
“He is to be considered extremely dangerous and should not be approached,” Stone County sheriff’s office said in a social media post.
Hardin pleaded guilty to the murder of 59-year-old Gateway city water employee James Appleton in October 2017. Appleton was talking to his brother-in-law, then Gateway Mayor Andrew Tillman, when he was shot in his car on Feb. 23, 2017, according to an affidavit filed in the case.
Hardin was the police chief of the small town near the Missouri border for about four months in early 2016. According to NBC affiliate KNWA, he also previously worked as a police officer, county constable, and corrections officer.
In Febru 2018, a DNA sample linked Hardin to a 1997 cold case rape of teacher Amy Harrison at Frank Tillery Element School. Hardin pled guilty to the rape as well and was sentenced to 50 years in prison.
The Division of Corrections and the Division of Community Corrections are working with local, state, and federal law enforcement to follow leads on Hardin’s whereabouts. The ongoing search is a joint effort between the DOC and the Arkansas state police.
“Officials continue to utilize a variety of means to track Hardin, as well as investigating the events that led up to his escape,” the statement read. “Further updates will be provided as they become available.”
Authorities are asking anyone with information about the inmate’s whereabouts to contact law enforcement.
