An Arkansas State Police (ASP) aircraft carrying recaptured inmate Samuel Paul Hartman and his alleged accomplices landed in east Arkansas Wednesday night.
Hartman, 39, his wife, Misty Hartman, 39, and his mother, Linda Annette White, 61, arrived in Forrest City around 9:30 p.m. after the trio was arrested along with another individual at a West Virginia motel on Tuesday. (Click here for more on the arrest from White River Now.)
ASP Troopers securely transported the Hartmans and White from West Virginia to Arkansas, according to an ASP release. The trio remained in ASP custody until approximately 1 a.m. Thursday.
ASP Criminal Investigation Division (CID) investigators interviewed Hartman before returning him to Arkansas Department of Corrections custody. The two women, also interviewed by ASP CID, were transported to the Woodruff County Jail.
Hartman, who had been serving a life sentence at East Arkansas Regional Unit for rape, escaped on Aug. 12, 2022, while on a work detail in a field near the detention facility, located in Brickeys. The two women allegedly helped Hartman escape using a pickup truck and jet skis. (Click here for more on this story from The Associated Press.)
The three were captured on Tuesday, Aug. 29, at a motel in Lewisburg, West Virginia. The U.S. Marshals, West Virginia State Police, Lewisburg Police Department, and Greenbrier County Sheriff’s Office took them into custody.
Also taken into custody was White’s boyfriend Rodney Trent, 52, of Lester, West Virginia. Trent faces felony charges for allegedly harboring a sex offender and for assisting the trio while on the run.
Below, watch an Arkansas State Police video of the trio arriving in Forrest City.
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