Arkansas “Devil in the Ozarks” spent months planning prison escape

A former police chief and convicted murderer, known as “the devil in the Ozarks,” spent months planning his escape from an Arkansas prison.

Grant Hardin, who worked in the prison’s kitchen, used black Sharpie markers and laundry to create a fake law enforcement uniform.

According to an internal review by prison officials, Hardin said lax security in the kitchen allowed him to gather the supplies he needed.

The state corrections department’s critical incident review provides the most detailed description so far of Hardin’s planning and the issues that allowed him to walk out of the Calico Rock prison on May 25.

Hardin was captured 1.5 miles northwest of the prison on June 6. He fashioned a fake badge using the lid of a can and hid the clothes and other items he needed in the bottom of a trash can in the kitchen.

Two prison employees have been fired for procedure violations that led to Hardin’s escape.

A kitchen employee allowed him on a back dock unsupervised, and a tower guard unlocked the back gate without confirming his identity. Several other employees have been suspended, and one demoted. The kitchen staff was “very lax on security,” Hardin told investigators, allowing him to gather what he needed for his escape.

Hardin constructed a ladder from wooden pallets to scale the prison fence but didn’t need it. “When he walked up to the gate, he just directed the officer to ‘open the gate,’ and he did.” After escaping, Hardin survived on food smuggled from the prison, distilled water from his CPAP machine, creek water, berries, bird eggs, and ants. His plan was to hide in the woods for six months if needed and begin moving west.

The report is one of two reviews into Hardin’s escape, also investigated by the Arkansas state police. A legislative subcommittee has held hearings, with Republican State Representative Howard Beaty saying the panel hopes to discuss both reports with officials in September.

Republican State Senator Ben Gilmore expressed concerns that the department’s review didn’t thoroughly examine systemic issues enabling Hardin’s escape. “they have focused on the final failure instead of all the things that led up to it,” he said.

The corrections department’s review cites confusion among officials about notified law enforcement agencies during Hardin’s escape. Hardin had been misclassified and shouldn’t have been held at the primarily medium-security prison.

After capture, he was moved to a maximum-security prison and has pleaded not guilty to escape charges, with his trial set for November.