Police arrest Alberta woman wrongfully released from jail on fake papers
Posted May 29, 2025 12:29 pm.
An Alberta woman has been arrested by RCMP in B.C. after police say she went on the run following her release from jail on fraudulent documents.
Twenty-four-year-old Mackenzie Dawn Hardy was arrested in March by Red Deer RCMP on several charges, including was possession of stolen property, impaired driving, flight from police and driving without insurance or registration.
She was “inadvertently released due to fraud” on April 25, according to police.
The Alberta Crown Prosecution Service confirmed last week that Hardy was released from custody after staff at the Fort Saskatchewan Correctional Centre, northeast of Edmonton, were shown documents saying her charges were stayed.
They later learned those papers were fake.
A woman who identified herself as Hardy posted videos on the social media platform TikTok, where she taunted law enforcement and denies the papers being fake.
“So, the government’s f–ed and I’m an escaped inmate right now,” the woman says in one video.
“They are not going to catch me because I’m one step ahead of them — too fast for those piggies to come after me.”
In another video, she said her boyfriend was given one year to live after being diagnosed with cancer and that her release was a “gift from God.”
READ MORE: Arrest warrant issued for Alberta woman released from jail with fake documents
“I was set free right when he needed me the most,” she said.
Hundreds of social media users left comments on the videos encouraging her to turn herself in.
“I’m not running away from justice — I’m running towards life before it slips away,” she said.
Red Deer RCMP investigated and determined that 27-year-old David Joseph Wood conspired with Hardy and helped her get out of custody.
An arrest warrant was issued for Wood on May 23.
On Tuesday, a patrol officer with Revelstoke RCMP saw two people recognized as Hardy and Wood walking away from a stolen vehicle.
Officers contained the area and arrested them both.
Wood is charged with assisting escape of a prisoner, identity fraud, and uttering a forged document.
On top of Hardy’s outstanding warrants, she is now also facing a charge of escaping legal custody.
