A former Arkansas Police officer who was convicted of rape and murder who escaped from prison on May 25 is back in custody.

 

56-year-old Grant Hardin was captured on Friday afternoon, less than two miles from the prison in Calico Rock, Arkansas, from which he escaped ten days earlier. The Arkansas Department of Corrections stated in a press release that tracking dogs picked up Hardin’s scent in the area and the fugitive was apprehended a short time later by Arkansas law enforcement officers and the U.S. Border Patrol.

 

Hardin had been incarcerated in the North Central Unit in Calico Rock since 2017 after pleading guilty to first-degree murder in the shooting death of James Appleton. He later pleaded guilty to two counts of rape in the 1997 assault of a Rogers school teacher.

 

Officials say Hardin walked out of prison through an open gate on May 25 while dressed in a makeshift law enforcement uniform.

 

The U.S. Border Patrol says Hardin has been turned over to the Arkansas State Police.

 

Photo courtesy U.S. Border Patrol