Corrections department review shows how Grant Hardin made fake guard uniform and details lax security at facility
A former police chief known and convicted murderer known as “the devil in the Ozarks” spent months planning his escape from an Arkansas prison, and he said lax security in the kitchen where he worked allowed him to gather the supplies he needed, according to an internal review by prison officials released on Friday.
The state corrections department’s critical incident review of Grant Hardin’s 25 May escape from the Calico Rock prison provides the most detailed description so far of his planning – and the issues that allowed him to walk out of the facility.
Hardin was captured 1.5 miles (2.4km) north-west of the Calico Rock prison on 6 June. Authorities said he escaped by donning an outfit he designed to look like a law enforcement uniform.
Hardin, who worked in the prison’s kitchen, said he spent six months planning his escape and used black Sharpie markers and laundry he found lying around the kitchen to create the fake uniform, according to the report. Hardin fashioned a fake badge using the lid of a can.
