Authorities were searching Friday for a convicted rapist who escaped from an east Arkansas prison.

Samuel Hartman, 38, escaped Friday morning from the East Arkansas Regional Unit in Brickeys, located 96 miles east of Little Rock, the state Department of Corrections said.

The DOC said Hartman escaped from his field maintenance crew assignment at the prison.

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Samuel Hartman

Authorities are searching for the convicted rapist who escaped from an east Arkansas prison. The state Department of Corrections on Friday, Aug. 12, 2022, said that the 38-year-old Sam Hartman, seen here, escaped that morning from the East Arkansas Regional Unit in Brickeys, Arkansas.  (Arkansas Department of Correction via AP)

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Hartman had been in state custody since 2013 and is serving a life sentence for a rape conviction out of Franklin County. The prison has a capacity of 1,624 inmates, according to the DOC website.