This Cop Has Too Much Power // The Grant Hardin Murder Story
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Who was Grant Hardin and why is his early police career important?
Sometimes cops are just as bad as the people they arrest, and sometimes they're worse. Now this guy's name is Grant, and Grant is about 28 during this time, and he lives in Eureka Springs, Arkansas. And Grant is a police officer, but he's the worst kind of police officer. He has anger issues. He doesn't take criticism well. He thinks he's never wrong. He's quick to use excessive force on people. And because of this, he's been fired or forced to resign from multiple police departments. But because it's the 90s, when he gets fired from one department, he just goes and gets hired at a new one. Then he gets fired and then gets hired again. Then he gets fired and he gets hired again. It's like he keeps failing upward.
Now, eventually, in 1996, Grant is forced to resign from the Eureka Springs Police Department because he was caught lying on an official police report and using excessive force. Surprise, surprise. But then, one day, in 1997, he does some really evil s***.
What happened during the 1997 school assault and why did it go cold?
Because it's the weekend, and there's a woman working at this local elementary school. She's a third grade teacher, and there aren't many people at the school that day, because it's the weekend, and she's there prepping for classes. And for some reason, we're not sure why he decides to target her, but he decides that he's gonna attack her. So he puts on a ski mask and sunglasses, and he sneaks into the school, and he waits. And at one point, this teacher leaves the classroom to go to the restroom in the teacher's lounge. And when she comes out, boom, Grant is waiting there with a gun. And from here, he essays her multiple times. Then he flees the scene. And eventually, police investigate all this, and they're able to collect DNA from the attack, but it doesn't match anyone in their database.
So ultimately, the case goes cold, and Grant gets away with it completely, like it never happened. Now from here, Grant doesn't immediately go back into law enforcement. I couldn't find any record of his employment, so I'm not really sure what he does. But I did find that in 1998, he was arrested and charged with indecent exposure. Showing his junk to someone, I guess. So, that's fun.
How did Grant become the chief of police in Gateway and abuse his power?
Years later, in 2005, he's charged again for fleeing from police in Eureka Springs. And in 2007, he's charged with domestic battery. So clearly, he's not a good guy and he's not staying out of trouble. Oh, but it gets better because the next year, in 2008, he runs for public office. He runs to be constable for District 1 in Benton County, Arkansas. I guess the voters didn't know about his violent history, or they just didn't care, because he actually wins that election. Okay, but here's where it gets really crazy. So years go by, and it's now 2016, and he's like lost all his hair at this point. And he applies for a job in Gateway, Arkansas. And Gateway, Arkansas is a really small town, 450 people living there.
In fact, it's such a small town that it has a police force consisting of only one police officer. Meaning that police officer is also the chief of police. And so Grant applies for this job and he actually gets hired. So now this violent sexual predator is the chief of police. And on this job, immediately his sociopathic tendencies come out and he abuses every bit of power that he has.
Why did the city council force Grant to resign after the car‑repair dispute with Appleton?
He carries his police-issued gun around, on duty and off duty. He chases cars around town and stalks people he doesn't like. If someone pisses him off on the road, he'll chase them down and he'll approach them and point his gun right at them. And people in Gateway quickly start hating him. All 450 of them, I guess. He's just too much to deal with. And a few months go by and one day Grant is out on patrol and he sees a car driving around and he decides he wants to investigate it. So he follows it and he pulls off the road onto this area with a lot of brush. So Grant, he's driving around this brushy area and boom, he runs over a tree stump. And this damages the hell out of the undercarriage of the police cruiser he's driving.
Now, him wrecking his own police car, it's not like a huge scandal, but it would make him look incompetent to the rest of the town who already hates him.
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Chapters
7 chapters
1
Who was Grant Hardin and why is his early police career important?
0:00–1:05
2
What happened during the 1997 school assault and why did it go cold?
1:05–2:24
3
How did Grant become the chief of police in Gateway and abuse his power?
2:24–3:40
4
Why did the city council force Grant to resign after the car‑repair dispute with Appleton?
3:40–4:56
5
What led Grant to murder James Appleton and how was the crime carried out?
4:56–5:49
6
How was Grant arrested and what role did DNA evidence play in linking him to the 1997 assault?
5:49–7:07
7
What were the final sentences for Grant Hardin and how did his criminal history end?
7:07–8:27
Speakers
1 identifiedMore from Ray William Johnson: True Story Podcast
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