After more than 10 tense days on the run, Grant Hardin—the former Arkansas police chief turned convicted murderer and rapist—is back. He is behind bars.
Hardin, 56, slipped out of prison on May 25 in a makeshift cop uniform.
The irony? He once was the law in Gateway, Arkansas.
But since 2017, he’s been serving decades-long sentences for shooting city worker James Appleton.
He also raped a schoolteacher—crimes described by prosecutors as “evil.”
What Happened?
His freedom didn’t last. On Friday, tracking dogs caught his scent just a mile and a half from the prison.
He was quickly nabbed by Arkansas law enforcement and U.S. Border Patrol, then hauled off to the Varner SuperMax Unit.
“Thanks to the great work of local, state, and federal law enforcement,” said Governor Sarah Sanders.
“Arkansans can breathe a sigh of relief.”
She credited everyone from state police to Secretary Kristi Noem’s Border Patrol team.
Authorities say bad weather and rugged terrain slowed their search, but likely boxed Hardin in too.
“He’s extremely dangerous,” said former prosecutor Nathan Smith. “He has no moral center.”
