The previous Arkansas police chief who escaped prison whereas serving a 30-year sentence for homicide and rape has been recaptured after practically two weeks on the run, authorities stated.
Grant Hardin was captured by legislation enforcement officers Friday afternoon, roughly 1.5 miles west of the northern Arkansas jail he had escaped, based on the Izard County Sheriff’s Workplace. His id was confirmed by fingerprint evaluation, the sheriff’s workplace stated.
Hardin, 56, escaped the Calico Rock North Central Unit in Izard County on Could 25 after donning a uniform and impersonating a corrections officer and being allowed to stroll by way of a sally port pulling a cart.
Escaped inmate Grant Hardin is seen being taken into custody on June 6, 2025, on this graphic launched by the Arkansas Division of Corrections.
Arkansas Division of Corrections
Arkansas legislation enforcement officers and the U.S. Border Patrol positioned Hardin close to Moccasin Creek in Izard County and he was taken into custody shortly after 3 p.m. native time Friday, based on the Arkansas Division of Corrections.
“Monitoring canines have been capable of decide up a scent within the space, and Hardin was apprehended a short while later,” the division stated in a press launch.
Arkansas’ secretary of corrections, Lindsay Wallace, thanked those that helped “convey this search to a peaceable conclusion.”
Escaped inmate Grant Hardin is seen being taken into custody on June 6, 2025, on this graphic launched by the Arkansas Division of Corrections.
Arkansas Division of Corrections
Hardin, the previous police chief of Gateway, Arkansas, pleaded responsible in October 2017 to first-degree homicide in reference to the capturing loss of life of 59-year-old James Appleton, based on The Related Press.
He was additionally convicted of the 1997 rape of an elementary faculty trainer in Rogers, Arkansas, against the law highlighted within the 2023 tv documentary “Satan within the Ozarks.”
Throughout the search, officers deployed helicopters, drones and K9 officers. A U.S. Border Patrol tactical unit from Texas, generally known as BORTAC, had additionally been deployed to Arkansas to help within the manhunt, officers stated.
Grant Hardin in police photograph.
Stone County Arkansas Sheriff’s Workplace
Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders expressed gratitude for native, state and federal legislation enforcement — and particularly thanked the Trump administration for sending a Border Patrol workforce “that was instrumental in monitoring and apprehending Hardin.โ
“Because of the nice work of native, state and federal legislation enforcement Arkansans can breathe a sigh of reduction and I can verify that violent felony Grant Hardin is again in custody,โ she stated in a press release.
Grant Hardin, a former police chief sentenced for homicide and rape, escaped an Arkansas jail on Could 25, based on the Stone County Sheriff’s Workplace.
Stone County Arkansas Sheriff’s Workplace
The FBI and U.S. Marshals supplied a mixed $25,000 reward for data resulting in his seize.
Arkansas officers urged residents of the encompassing Izard County to remain vigilant and lock the doorways of their houses and automobiles following his escape.
“I’m very scared that this man goes to harm or kill any person earlier than that is over with,” Stone County Sheriff Brandon Lengthy informed ABC Information amid the manhunt.
Nathan Smith, the previous Benton County prosecutor who helped put Hardin behind bars, informed Arkansas ABC affiliate KHBS the escaped inmate is “a sociopath.”
