“The Devil of Ozarks” spent months planning an Arkansas prison escape – Report | Arkansas

A former police chief is called “known” The Devil of Ozarks“It took months to plan his escape from an Arkansas prison, and he said his slack security in his kitchen allowed him to collect the supplies he needed, according to an internal review of prison officials released Friday.

The state corrections department’s major incident review of Grant Hardin 25 could escape the Calico Rock Paind, the most detailed description of his plan to date and the issues that allowed him to step out of the facility.

Harding is Captured On June 6, 1.5 miles (2.4 km) northwest of Yinhua Rock Prison. Authorities said he escaped by wearing a dress he designed looked like a law enforcement uniform.

Harding, who works in the prison kitchen, said he spent six months planning his escape and using black sand crust markings and laundry to find him lying around the kitchen making fake uniforms. Harding used a can to cover a fake badge.

“Harding said he would hide clothes and other needed items at the bottom of the trash can in the kitchen because no one would shake it,” the report said.

Two prison employees were fired for breach of procedures, resulting in Harding’s escape. They included a kitchen employee who allowed him to go on the unsupervised rear dock and a tower guard who unlocked the back door Harding walked through without confirming his identity. Several other employees have been suspended and demoted, lawmakers were told this week.

Harding told investigators that the kitchen staff was “very relaxed” and asked him to collect what he needed to escape. He said he had no help from staff or other prisoners. Harding also built a ladder from wooden pallets to scale the prison fence, but it was not needed.

“[Hardin] The report said that when he walked to the gate, he simply instructed the officers to “open the gate” and he did.

After escaping from prison and surviving food, Harding smuggled with distilled water from his CPAP machine, a device for treating sleep apnea. Harding also drank stream water, ate berries, bird eggs and ants.

“He said his plan was to hide in the woods for six months if needed and then start moving westward out of the area,” the report said.

Hardin, a former police chief in the small town of Gateway near the Arkansas-Missouri border, was sentenced to a long sentence for murder and rape. He is the subject of Ozarks TV documentary The Devil.

The report is one of two comments about Harding’s escape, and Arkansas State Police are also investigating. The Legislative Subcommittee has also been holding hearings on escape.

Howard Beaty, Republican state representative for the Legislative Council’s subcommittee on Charity, Criminal and Correctional Institutions, said the panel hopes to discuss both reports with officials at a hearing in September.

Republican state Sen. Ben Gilmore, who sat in the group, said he believes the department’s review did not provide a sufficiently detailed understanding of the systemic issues that achieved Harding’s escape.

“They focus on the ultimate failure, not all the things that lead to it,” he said.

The report also cites notifications from correctional officers about which law enforcement agencies were made in the early stages of Harding’s escape.

“It’s obvious that there’s a lot of confusion in the beginning of opening the command center and notifications,” the report said.

The review said Harding was misclassified and should not be held in major secondary security prisons. After being arrested, Harding was moved to the highest security prison. He pleaded not guilty to the escape charge and his trial was scheduled for November.

The report said Harding’s custody classification has not been reviewed since October 2019.

The corrections department review said that since Harding escaped, officials have taken several steps, including removing the electric lock from the gate to prevent going out without attending officers.

The report also requires that a blind spot be found on the Harding Pier using the Pier and requires other cameras – as well as any “shakedown” search for contraband to include mechanical rooms and side rooms.