Former Arkansas police chief, serving time for murder, rape, escapes from prison

CALICO ROCK, Ark. — A former police chief in Arkansas who is serving sentences for murder and rape escaped from prison on Sunday by dressing in a fake law enforcement uniform, according to state corrections officials.

A manhunt is underway for Grant Hardin, 56, the former police chief of Gateway, located near the Arkansas-Missouri border. Hardin escaped from the Calico Rock North Central Unit, where he has been incarcerated since 2017, around 2:50 p.m. CT, county officials said. He is considered extremely dangerous.

An image released by the Stone County Sheriff’s Office on its Facebook page shows what officials said was Hardin, wearing clothes similar to a law enforcement uniform. The image shows Hardin passing through a controlled gate while pushing a cart of utility materials.

“It has been determined that Hardin was wearing a makeshift outfit designed to mimic law enforcement when he escaped the North Central Unit,” Rand Champion, a spokesman for the Arkansas Department of Corrections, said in a statement. “He was not wearing a Department of Corrections uniform, and all DOC-issued equipment has been accounted for.”

According to the sheriff’s office, Hardin was serving a 30-year sentence for first-degree murder, along with an additional sentence for rape.

Hardin was Gateway’s police chief for about four months in early 2016. He was terminated multiple times and had been accused of using excessive force and falsifying a police report.

Hardin pleaded guilty in October 2017 to first-degree murder in connection with the shooting death of James Appleton. According to an affidavit, Appleton, 59, worked for the Gateway water department and was talking to his brother-in-law, then Gateway Mayor Andrew Tillman, on the telephone when he was pulled over and shot in the head on Feb. 23, 2017, near Garfield. Authorities found Appleton’s body inside a car.

Hardin is also serving 50 years in prison for the 1997 rape of an elementary school teacher in Rogers, located north of Fayetteville. The teacher had arrived at her classroom at Frank Tillery Elementary School on Nov. 9, 1997, a Sunday, to prepare for the week.

When leaving the teachers’ restroom, police said she was confronted by a man who pointed a gun at her and raped her.

Investigators were unable to identify a suspect at the time, but obtained DNA evidence from Harrison’s clothing.

While Hardin was incarcerated, it was discovered that he was a match to the DNA. He pleaded guilty to rape and kidnapping in 2019.

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