Former plain chief who escaped from Arkansas prison while undergoing time for the murder was arrested: the authorities

Former Police Chief Arkansas who fled from prison while serving a 30 -year sentence because murder and rape had been arrested again after almost two weeks in the escape, said the authorities.

Grant Hardin was arrested by law enforcement officials on Friday afternoon, around 1.5 miles to the west of North Arkansas prison, according to the Sheriff Office of Izard Regency. His identity was confirmed by fingerprint analysis, said Sheriff’s office.

Hardin, 56, escaped the Calico Rock North Central Unit at Izard County on May 25 after wearing a uniform and disguised as a correction officer and was allowed to walk through the Port of Sally withdrew the cart.

The law enforcement officer Arkansas and the US border patrol located near Moccasin Creek at Izard County and he was detained shortly after 3 pm local time Friday, according to the Department of Corrections Arkansas.

“Dog trackers can take the scent in the area, and Hardin was arrested a few moments later,” the department said in a press release.

The Secretary of the Correction of Arkansas, Lindsay Wallace, thanked those who helped “bring this search to a peaceful conclusion.”

Hardin, a former Gateway police chief, Arkansas, pleaded guilty in October 2017 for the first -level murder in connection with the shooting of James Appleton who was 59 years old, according to the Associated Press.

He was also punished for rape in 1997 a elementary school teacher in Rogers, Arkansas, a crime that was highlighted in a television documentary 2023 “Devil in the Ozarks.”

During the search, officials deployed helicopters, drones and K9 officers. The US border patrol tactical unit from Texas, known as Bortac, has also been deployed to Arkansas to help the slavery, officials said.

Governor Arkansas Sarah Huckabee Sanders expressed his gratitude for the enforcement of local law, state and federal – and especially thanked Trump’s administration for sending a border patrol team “which played a role in tracking and capturing Hardin.”

“Thanks to the great work of state law enforcement, state and federal, Arkansans, can sigh relieved and I can confirm that cruel criminals Grant Hardin returned to detention,” he said in a statement.

Marshals FBI and US offer a combined prize of $ 25,000 for information that leads to its arrest.

Arkansas officials urged residents around Izard County to remain vigilant and locked their doors and vehicles after escaping.

“I am very afraid that this person will hurt or kill someone before this end,” Sheriff Stone County Brandon Long told ABC News in the middle of the hunt.

Nathan Smith, a former Benton Regency prosecutor who helped put Hardin behind bars, told ABC’s Arkansas Affiliation KHBS Prisoners who escaped were “a sociopath.”