Grant Hardin pleads not guilty to escaping Arkansas prison

IZARD COUNTY, Ark. — On May 25, Grant Hardin, the former police chief for Gateway, Arkansas, escaped the North Central Unit in Calico Rock while serving sentences for murder and rape. He was found almost two weeks later by Arkansas law enforcement and U.S. Border Patrol just over a mile from the prison.

Now he’s incarcerated in the Varner Supermax Unit and facing a felony charge of escaping from a Department of Corrections facility, a charge that he pleaded not guilty to on June 17, according to court documents.

The report says that Hardin appeared via Zoom, waived his formal arraignment, and entered a plea of not guilty.

After entering his plea, a pretrial hearing was set for Oct. 21, with a jury trial scheduled during the term of Nov. 5-7.

The Department of Corrections has said that an investigation into the escape and the reported security lapse is ongoing.

For the full timeline covering Hardin’s background, crimes, conviction, escape, and capture, check out our main article here.

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