Ex-police chief convicted of rape and murder captured after escaping Arkansas prison

Grant Hardin, a former Arkansas police chief convicted of rape and murder, was captured Friday after escaping from prison nearly two weeks ago.

Grant Hardin, a former Arkansas police chief convicted of rape and murder, was captured Friday after escaping from prison nearly two weeks ago.

Hardin, 56, was taken into custody roughly 1.5 miles west of North Central Unit, the facility he fled wearing what prison officials have described as a "makeshift" law enforcement uniform, the Arkansas Department of Corrections said.

U.S. Border Patrol agents and Arkansas law enforcement officers found him near an Izard County creek after tracking dogs picked up his scent in the area, the department said. He was apprehended a short time later.

Hardin's identity was confirmed by fingerprint analysis, the Izard County Sheriff's Office said in a statement.

Grant Hardin.Arkansas Department of Corrections Communications Department / AP“To every one of our Department staff that assisted in this manhunt over the last 13 days, I give my heartfelt thank you for your immeasurable contributions to bring this search to a peaceful conclusion," Secretary of Corrections Lindsay Wallace said in a statement.