LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) — Two employees at an Arkansas prison where an inmate known as the “Devil in the Ozarks” escaped have been fired for policy violations, corrections officials said Thursday as they faced questions from lawmakers who said the escape points to deeper problems.
The head of the Arkansas Board of Corrections told state lawmakers the violations allowed Grant Hardin to escape from the Calico Rock prison wearing a makeshift law enforcement uniform on May 25. But officials have said there was no evidence employees knowingly assisted Hardin’s escape.
One of the fired employees had allowed Hardin onto an outside kitchen dock unsupervised, and the other employee worked in a tower and had opened the gate Hardin walked through without confirming his identity.
Hardin was captured 1.5 miles (2.4 kilometers) northwest of the Calico Rock prison on June 6. Authorities said he escaped by donning an outfit designed to look like a law enforcement uniform. Magness said the outfit was crafted from an inmate uniform and kitchen apron dyed black using a marker, while a soup can lid and a Bible cover were fashioned to look like a badge. In addition to the uniform, Hardin fashioned a ladder out of wooden pallets that were on the dock that Hardin planned to use to scale the fence and escape if the gate wasn’t opened for him. Hardin also took peanut butter sandwiches from the prison to survive on after his escape, corrections officials told lawmakers Thursday.
After Hardin’s capture, he was transferred to a maximum-security prison in Varner, a small community about 65 miles southeast of Little Rock.
Hardin has pleaded not guilty to an escape charge and is set to go on trial in November.
Hardin held a job in the kitchen in the prison and had not had any disciplinary problems during his time there.
State Police is also investigating the escape to determine whether any laws, policies, or procedures were violated in the escape. Col. Mike Hagar, the head of state police and secretary of public safety, said the final report on the investigation may be completed within 30 days.
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