{"id":28691,"date":"2025-05-29T07:15:15","date_gmt":"2025-05-29T07:15:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/site.itshrt.com\/worldnews\/a-former-police-chief-known-as-the-devil-in-the-ozarks-escaped-prison-in-arkansas-heres-what-to-know\/"},"modified":"2025-05-29T07:15:15","modified_gmt":"2025-05-29T07:15:15","slug":"a-former-police-chief-known-as-the-devil-in-the-ozarks-escaped-prison-in-arkansas-heres-what-to-know","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/site.itshrt.com\/worldnews\/a-former-police-chief-known-as-the-devil-in-the-ozarks-escaped-prison-in-arkansas-heres-what-to-know\/","title":{"rendered":"A former police chief known as the &#8220;Devil in the Ozarks&#8221; escaped prison in Arkansas. Here&#8217;s what to know."},"content":{"rendered":"<p> <script async src=\"https:\/\/pagead2.googlesyndication.com\/pagead\/js\/adsbygoogle.js?client=ca-pub-6606220950177433\"\r\n     crossorigin=\"anonymous\"><\/script>\r\n<!-- ItShrt World News -->\r\n<ins class=\"adsbygoogle\"\r\n     style=\"display:block\"\r\n     data-ad-client=\"ca-pub-6606220950177433\"\r\n     data-ad-slot=\"1882483372\"\r\n     data-ad-format=\"auto\"\r\n     data-full-width-responsive=\"true\"><\/ins>\r\n<script>\r\n     (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});\r\n<\/script>\r\n<br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div id=\"\">\n<p>Officials scoured Arkansas&#8217; rugged Ozark Mountains for a former police chief and convicted killer who <span class=\"link\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.cbsnews.com\/news\/grant-hardin-arkansas-prison-escape\/\" data-invalid-url-rewritten-http=\"\">escaped from prison<\/a><\/span> over the weekend.<\/p>\n<p>Grant Hardin, who briefly served as police chief for the small town of Gateway, near the Arkansas-Missouri border, was serving a decadeslong sentence for murder and rape.<\/p>\n<p>Known as the &#8220;Devil in the Ozarks,&#8221; he escaped Sunday from the North Central Unit, a medium-security prison in Calico Rock.<\/p>\n<p>Hardin&#8217;s escape happened days after 10 men fled a <span class=\"link\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.cbsnews.com\/news\/new-orleans-jail-escape-jailbreak-manhunt-timeline\/\" target=\"_blank\" data-invalid-url-rewritten-http=\"\">New Orleans jail<\/a><\/span> by going through a hole behind a toilet. Eight of those fugitives have <span class=\"link\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.cbsnews.com\/news\/sixth-escaped-new-orleans-jail-inmate-captured\/\" target=\"_blank\" data-invalid-url-rewritten-http=\"\">since been captured<\/a><\/span>.<\/p>\n<p>Here&#8217;s what to know about Hardin and his escape:<\/p>\n<h2>How did he escape?<\/h2>\n<p>Hardin escaped from the prison Sunday afternoon by impersonating a corrections officer &#8220;in dress and manner,&#8221; according to a court document. A prison officer opened a secure gate, allowing him to leave the facility.<\/p>\n<p>The outfit was not a standard inmate or correctional uniform, said Rand Champion, a spokesperson for the Arkansas Department of Corrections. Officials are working to determine how he was either able to get the uniform or manufacture it himself.<\/p>\n<p>Video surveillance shows Hardin escaped at about 2:55 p.m. on Sunday, Champion said. Officials announced his escape about two hours later.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"embed embed--type-image is-image embed--float-none embed--size-medium\">\n<p>      <span class=\"img embed__content\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/assets3.cbsnewsstatic.com\/hub\/i\/r\/2025\/05\/28\/bda90363-6759-45c2-9dc1-e81b1dd45697\/thumbnail\/620x450\/3462c55c843061b7e22d96e9f27bf231\/ap25147689031558.jpg?v=0ec0a9b0c45ecf3b0dd269ffc8f350b0#\" alt=\"ap25147689031558.jpg \" height=\"450\" width=\"620\" class=\" lazyload\" srcset=\"https:\/\/assets3.cbsnewsstatic.com\/hub\/i\/r\/2025\/05\/28\/bda90363-6759-45c2-9dc1-e81b1dd45697\/thumbnail\/620x450\/3462c55c843061b7e22d96e9f27bf231\/ap25147689031558.jpg?v=0ec0a9b0c45ecf3b0dd269ffc8f350b0 1x, https:\/\/assets2.cbsnewsstatic.com\/hub\/i\/r\/2025\/05\/28\/bda90363-6759-45c2-9dc1-e81b1dd45697\/thumbnail\/1240x900\/5b8799f7bfd072d95cc6c24730b0bf2d\/ap25147689031558.jpg?v=0ec0a9b0c45ecf3b0dd269ffc8f350b0 2x\" loading=\"lazy\"\/><\/span><figcaption class=\"embed__caption-container\">\n<p>                  <span class=\"embed__caption\">This image provided by the Arkansas Department of Corrections shows Grant Hardin, a former police chief and convicted killer, escaping the North Central Unit prison wearing a disguise in Calico Rock, Ark.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p>                  <span class=\"embed__credit\"><\/p>\n<p>                Arkansas Department of Corrections via AP<\/p>\n<p>                          <\/span><br \/>\n              <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>But how he got out of the prison and escaped into a rural part of the state, as well as whether he had any help is still unclear.<\/p>\n<p>Prison officials say they are investigating what led up to the escape &#8220;to help determine any assistance he may have had.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;An active search remains in effect involving a number of law enforcement agencies from across the state,&#8221; the Arkansas Department of Corrections <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/ADCPIO\/status\/1927416589260927264\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">said in an update<\/a> Tuesday afternoon.<\/p>\n<p>Champion said the decision to house Hardin in a medium-security facility, which has a capacity of about 800 people, weighed the &#8220;needs of the different facilities and inmates&#8221; and &#8220;assessments&#8221; of his crimes.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;As individuals go, there&#8217;s very few people that have that many violent charges that they&#8217;ve been convicted of,&#8221; said Bryan Sexton, the current prosecutor in Benton County, where Hardin was convicted in 2017. &#8220;Our law enforcement partners in that part of the state are working hard to make sure they pick him up as quickly as possible and get him back in custody.&#8221;<\/p>\n<h2>Why was he in prison?<\/h2>\n<p>Hardin had been held at the Calico Rock prison since 2017 after pleading guilty to first-degree murder for fatally shooting James Appleton, 59.<\/p>\n<p>Appleton, a Gateway water department employee, was shot in the head in 2017. Police found his body inside a car. Hardin was sentenced to 30 years in prison.<\/p>\n<p>Hardin&#8217;s DNA was entered into the FBI&#8217;s Combined DNA Index System, and it matched the 1997 rape of a teacher at an elementary school in Rogers, a city in northwestern Arkansas. He was sentenced to 50 years in prison for that crime. He was a police officer in Eureka Springs, not far from Rogers, at that time.<\/p>\n<p>Cheryl Tillman, the mayor of Gateway, is one of Appleton&#8217;s sister. CBS News&#8217; Ian Lee asked Tillman what her reaction was when she found out Hardin had escaped prison.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;My heart just sank,&#8221; Tillman said. &#8220;You know, I thought, oh my gosh, what are we gonna do now?&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Tillman told CBS News that &#8220;anxiety is really high.&#8221; <\/p>\n<p>&#8220;I get really nervous and scared. And I don&#8217;t like guns, but we have one loaded now,&#8221; Tillman said.<\/p>\n<h2>His short tenure as police chief<\/h2>\n<p>Hardin became police chief of Gateway, a town of about 450 people, in 2016.<\/p>\n<p>Virtually overnight, people in the community described in the\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.max.com\/movies\/devil-in-the-ozarks\/6f216a8e-6c04-48a2-9708-3503c2684da4\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">2023 HBO documentary<\/a>\u00a0&#8220;Devil in the Ozarks&#8221; a dramatic shift.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;He was out chasing cars for no reason,&#8221; said Tillman. &#8220;He was pulling guns on the citizens here in Gateway and then as time went on with him being the police chief things just started going down hill fast.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>The documentary revealed a crucial run-in between Hardin and Appleton in the Spring of 2016 in which Appleton stood up to Hardin about fixing a police car. A Benton county sheriff&#8217;s office lieutenant described several times when they got into each other&#8217;s faces and the dislike they both felt toward one another.<\/p>\n<p>The city council gave him an ultimatum: resign or be fired. He stepped down four months after taking the position and nine months later, he killed Appleton.<\/p>\n<h2>The &#8220;Devil in the Ozarks&#8221; documentary<\/h2>\n<p>The &#8220;Devil in the Ozarks&#8221; documentary revealed key details about the bubbling resentment Hardin felt toward Appleton as well as revealing accounts of the moments right before and after the murder.<\/p>\n<p>Then-Gateway Mayor Andrew Tillman, Cheryl Tillman&#8217;s husband and Appleton&#8217;s brother-in-law, described being on the phone with him when he was shot, while local resident John Bray spoke about driving past Appleton&#8217;s car when the shooting happened. He was the first to find his body and identified Hardin as the shooter.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;I heard what I thought was someone had fired a riffle,&#8221; he said.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;I went back and I seen it looked like he had been shot,&#8221; he added, wiping away tears.<\/p>\n<p>The documentary also includes security video of Hardin at a restaurant with his family just after the shooting and the police interrogation in which he tells law enforcement he has &#8220;the right to be silent&#8221; and opted not to give a statement.<\/p>\n<h2>The search for Hardin<\/h2>\n<p>Authorities are using canines, drones and helicopters to search the rugged northern Arkansas terrain, Champion said.<\/p>\n<p>Although he did not reveal the exact areas of the search, he did say it has expanded as more time has elapsed since the escape.<\/p>\n<p>Officials have faced challenges searching the areas as it&#8217;s very rocky and heavy rain has fallen in recent days.<\/p>\n<p>The area around the prison is a rural part of the state, which can make Hardin&#8217;s escape more difficult. In a small community, there&#8217;s a higher chance someone will recognize him and alert the authorities, said Craig Caine, a retired inspector with the U.S. Marshals who has handled many cases involving escaped prisoners.<\/p>\n<p>The Division of Correction and the Division of Community Correction are following leads with local, state and federal law enforcement agencies.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"embed embed--type-image is-image embed--float-none embed--size-large\">\n<p>      <span class=\"img embed__content\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/assets3.cbsnewsstatic.com\/hub\/i\/r\/2025\/05\/26\/c4e4b220-3f6d-437e-87ce-45f405a660b9\/thumbnail\/620x339\/905b2cb03d836c2d6ea9d59b41ed8b35\/screenshot-2025-05-25-at-9-50-46-pm.png?v=0ec0a9b0c45ecf3b0dd269ffc8f350b0#\" alt=\"screenshot-2025-05-25-at-9-50-46-pm.png \" height=\"339\" width=\"620\" class=\" lazyload\" srcset=\"https:\/\/assets3.cbsnewsstatic.com\/hub\/i\/r\/2025\/05\/26\/c4e4b220-3f6d-437e-87ce-45f405a660b9\/thumbnail\/620x339\/905b2cb03d836c2d6ea9d59b41ed8b35\/screenshot-2025-05-25-at-9-50-46-pm.png?v=0ec0a9b0c45ecf3b0dd269ffc8f350b0 1x\" loading=\"lazy\"\/><\/span><figcaption class=\"embed__caption-container\">\n<p>                  <span class=\"embed__caption\">Photos of Grant Hardin provided by the Arkansas Department of Corrections.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>                  <span class=\"embed__credit\"><\/p>\n<p>                Arkansas Department of Corrections<\/p>\n<p>                          <\/span><br \/>\n              <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>    <!-- data-recirc-source=\"queryly\" --><\/p>\n<aside class=\"component list recirculation component--type-recirculation \">\n<p><h3 class=\"component__title\">More from CBS News<\/h3>\n<\/p>\n<\/aside>\n<p>    <!-- tags --><\/p><\/div>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/pagead2.googlesyndication.com\/pagead\/js\/adsbygoogle.js?client=ca-pub-6606220950177433\"\r\n     crossorigin=\"anonymous\"><\/script>\r\n<!-- ItShrt World News -->\r\n<ins class=\"adsbygoogle\"\r\n     style=\"display:block\"\r\n     data-ad-client=\"ca-pub-6606220950177433\"\r\n     data-ad-slot=\"1882483372\"\r\n     data-ad-format=\"auto\"\r\n     data-full-width-responsive=\"true\"><\/ins>\r\n<script>\r\n     (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});\r\n<\/script>\r\n<br \/>\n<br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/www.cbsnews.com\/news\/grant-hardin-prison-escape-arkansas-devil-in-the-ozarks\/\">Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Officials scoured Arkansas&#8217; rugged Ozark Mountains for a former police chief and convicted killer who escaped from prison over the<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":28692,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[32],"tags":[2522,1581],"class_list":["post-28691","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-top-stories","tag-arkansas","tag-escaped-prisoner"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v24.2 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>A former police chief known as the &quot;Devil in the Ozarks&quot; escaped prison in Arkansas. 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