The former police chief, daring escape from Arkansas prison, explains lax security

Little Rock, Ark. (AP) – A former police chief known as “Devil in the Ozarks” I spent months planning his escape from an Arkansas prison and said that Lax’s security in the kitchen where he worked allowed the convicted murderer to bring together the supplies he needed, an internal examination of prison officials said on Friday.

The critical examination of critical incidents of the Ministry of Correctional Services of the May 25 exhaust of Calico Rock prison provides the most detailed description of its planning and the problems which have allowed it to leave the establishment.

Hardin was captured at 1.5 mile (2.4 kilometers) northwest of Calico Rock prison on June 6. The authorities said that he had escaped by carrying an outfit he had designed to look like a law application uniform.

Hardin, who worked in prison cooking, said he spent six months planning his escape and using black Sharpie markers and a laundry he had found in the kitchen to create the false uniform, according to the report. Hardin shaped a false badge using the cover of a box.

“Hardin said he would hide the clothes and other articles he was going to need a trash can in the kitchen because no one was shaking,” said the report.

Two prison employees were dismissed For violations of the procedure that led to the escape of Hardin. They include an employee of the kitchen who authorized Hardin on a rear quay without surveillance and a tour goalkeeper who unlocked the back door that Hardin crossed without confirming his identity. Several other employees have been suspended And one has demoted, the legislators were informed this week.

The kitchen staff was “very lax on security,” said Hardin to investigators, allowing him to bring together what he needed for his escape. Hardin said he had no help from the staff or other detainees. Hardin had built a ladder from wooden pallets in case he was to develop the fence of the prison but did not need it.

“(Hardin) said when he headed for the door, he simply ordered the officer to open the door,” and he did it, “said the report.

After escaping from the prison, Hardin survived the food he had denounced the prison with water distilled from his CPAP machine. Hardin has also drank stream water and ate bays, bird eggs and ants.

“He said that his plan was to hide in the woods for six months if necessary and start to move west of the region,” said the report.

Hardin, a former police chief of the small town of Gateway, near the border of Arkansas-Missouri, purge long murder and rape penalties. He was the subject of the television documentary “Devil in the Ozarks”.

The report is one of the two journals on Hardin Escape, which is also the subject of an investigation by the police of the state of the Arkansas. A legislative subcommittee has also held hearings on escape.

Republican representative Howard Beaty, who co-chaired the subcommittee of charitable, criminal and correctional institutions of the Legislative Council, said that the panel hoped to discuss two reports with officials at a hearing next month.

Republican senator Ben Gilmore, who is on the panel, said that he did not think that the ministry’s examination had a sufficiently deepened look at the systemic problems that allowed Hardin’s escape.

“They focused on the final failure instead of all the things that led it,” he said.

The report also cites confusion among the managers of the correctional services at the early stages of the Hardin escape to which the law enforcement organizations had been informed, the report said.

“It is obvious that there was a lot of confusion during the first stages of the opening of the command center and the notifications made,” said the report.

Hardin had been poorly ranked and should not have been detained in prison mainly at average security, according to the magazine. After being captured, Hardin was transferred to a maximum security prison. He pleaded not guilty to escape accusations and his trial is scheduled for November.

The classification of the Hardin guard had not been examined since October 2019, the report indicates.

The ministry examination of corrections indicates that those responsible have taken several measures since the escape of Hardin, in particular by removing the electric locks from the doors to prevent someone from going out without a present officer.

The report also provides additional cameras after finding a blind spot on the Hardin quay, and in any search for “Shakedown” smuggling to include mechanical and side rooms.