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Ex-Police Chief Serving Time for Rape and Murder Escapes Arkansas Prison Wearing Homemade Police Uniform

May 27, 2025

Former Gateway, Arkansas police chief Grant Hardin escaped from prison Saturday while serving a 50 and 30-year sentences for rape and first degree murder. According to authorities, Hardin wore a homemade police uniform to escape, wheeling supplies though the yard to fool guards.

Stone County Sheriff’s Office.

Excerpt from the New York Post:

A disgraced ex-Arkansas police chief who was serving 80 years in prison for rape and a shotgun-to-the-head execution escaped from a high-security prison disguised as a cop.

Grant Hardin, 56, the former police chief of Gateway near the Arkansas-Missouri border, was seen on security cameras walking out of the North Central Unit prison, in Calico Rock, dressed in what appears to be a homemade law enforcement uniform on Sunday afternoon.

Hardin, who is considered extremely dangerous, used the outfit to sneak through the controlled gate while inconspicuously pushing a cart full of utility materials, according to the Stone County Sheriff’s Office.

…In 2017, Hardin pleaded guilty to the murder of James Appleton, 59, a Gateway water department employee who was shot in the head at point-blank range with a shotgun while on the phone with his brother-in-law, who was at the time the mayor.

…While incarcerated, Hardin’s DNA was tested and linked to a 1997 rape case that saw an elementary school teacher sexually assaulted at gunpoint inside a school bathroom while a community church service occured down the hall.

Hardin pleaded guilty to rape and kidnapping in 2018, with a judge sentencing him to an additional 50 years in jail.

Statement and updates by the Arkansas Department of Corrections, “FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE – 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.”

“UPDATE 11:30 p.m.: CALICO ROCK – As of 11:30 PM on Sunday, May 25, the search for inmate Grant Hardin, ADC # 168541, is ongoing. The search is a joint effort including the Department of Corrections, Arkansas State Police, and local and state law enforcement offices…It has been determined that Hardin was wearing a makeshift outfit designed to mimic law enforcement when he escaped the North Central Unit. He was not wearing a Department of Corrections uniform, and all DOC-issued equipment has been accounted for.”

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