A former Arkansas police chief serving decades in prison for first-degree murder and rape escaped from prison Sunday in a "makeshift" law enforcement uniform, Arkansas Department of Corrections officials said in a statement.
Grant Hardin is serving a 30-year sentence for the 2017 murder of city employee James Appleton. He is also serving a 50-year sentence for a 1997 rape, connected to him through DNA evidence in 2018.
"Anytime there's an escape, we consider that a threat to the public," said Rand Champion with the Arkansas Department of Corrections. "He does have a law enforcement background. Anytime something like this exists, we consider it a threat to the community." Officials believe Hardin may use his training to evade capture.
In 2017, Hardin pleaded guilty to fatally shooting Appleton while the victim was sitting in his car and talking to his brother-in-law, then-Gateway Mayor Andrew Tillman, on the phone.
He later also pleaded guilty to the 1997 rape of teacher Amy Harrison at Frank Tillery Elementary School, after DNA from the Appleton murder case linked him to the long-unsolved crime in 2018.
Hardin served as police chief of the small town near the Missouri border for about four months in early 2016. Prior to that, he had held roles as a police officer, county constable, and corrections officer, reported NBC News.
Grant Hardin is serving a 30-year sentence for the 2017 murder of city employee James Appleton. He is also serving a 50-year sentence for a 1997 rape, connected to him through DNA evidence in 2018.
"Anytime there's an escape, we consider that a threat to the public," said Rand Champion with the Arkansas Department of Corrections. "He does have a law enforcement background. Anytime something like this exists, we consider it a threat to the community." Officials believe Hardin may use his training to evade capture.
In 2017, Hardin pleaded guilty to fatally shooting Appleton while the victim was sitting in his car and talking to his brother-in-law, then-Gateway Mayor Andrew Tillman, on the phone.
He later also pleaded guilty to the 1997 rape of teacher Amy Harrison at Frank Tillery Elementary School, after DNA from the Appleton murder case linked him to the long-unsolved crime in 2018.
Hardin served as police chief of the small town near the Missouri border for about four months in early 2016. Prior to that, he had held roles as a police officer, county constable, and corrections officer, reported NBC News.
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