A judge on Tuesday sentenced a former Waukegan police officer to 60 days in jail after he was convicted of punching an unarmed man in the face. The former officer also faces separate murder charges for killing Marcellis Stinnette.
Dante Salinas, 42, of Gurnee, was charged in August 2022 with one count of aggravated battery causing great bodily harm, a Class 3 felony, and two counts of official misconduct, a Class 3 felony.
The charges stem from Salinas physically attacking Angel Salgado on August 31, 2019, while Salinas was employed as a Waukegan Police Department officer.
Prosecutors said that Salinas was on duty and on patrol when he came across Salgado, who called out to him.
Salinas got out of his squad car and a verbal argument ensued.
Prosecutors said Salinas pointed his firearm and taser at Salgado at separate moments.
Salgado began walking back to his fenced yard when Salinas tackled him and punched him four to five times, prosecutors said. Salgado suffered a broken eye socket.
A bench trial conducted before Lake County Judge George Strickland was held last month.
While delivering his ruling on September 26, Strickland said Salinas had several options — stay in his car, continue driving, call backup or confront Salgado.
Salinas got out of the car, which Strickland called “unnecessary” and said it was quickly evident the man was not armed after Salinas pointed his service weapon at him and ordered him to show his hands.
Salinas told Salgado he was under arrest for aggravated assault of a peace officer.
Strickland said that besides for Salgado being an “obnoxious, profane drunk,” the man had not committed any crime and it was an unlawful attempted arrest.
Salinas then began striking the man in the face. Strickland said officers are allowed to use “reasonable force” in a lawful arrest but this was not “reasonable force” and not even a lawful arrest.
Strickland said Salinas was acting out of anger and did not show any form of restraint. Backup officers arrived and eventually took Salgado into custody after the man was tased five times.
The judge found Salinas guilty of one count of official misconduct and not guilty of one count of aggravated battery causing great bodily harm and one count of official misconduct.
Strickland said that Salinas was not convicted of the aggravated battery charge because he could not definitely determine whether Salinas directly caused the orbital fracture injury by striking him.
“He is responsible for everything that happened. He pushed the snowball down the hill and he was responsible for where the snowball goes and where it hits. So all of this occurred because Salinas unlawfully acted towards him to begin with,” Strickland said.
“I think it’s just as likely that injury to his orbital bone was caused by Salgado going down on the sidewalk in this case,” the judge said, adding that the whole incident “simply should not have occurred.”
Lake County State’s Attorney Eric Rinehart said following the verdict that constitutional and safe policing “must be at the core of any justice system.”
“We agree with the Court when it said that the police are here to protect the community and that their job is incredibly difficult. But this one officer went too far,” Rinehart said.
“This State’s Attorney’s administration will work every day with our police partners and community stakeholders to ensure that every resident is safe. We are very proud of our law enforcement collaborations with Waukegan and other agencies. Together, we are solving more cases, holding more offenders accountable, and reducing crime,” he said.
A post-trial motions and sentencing hearing was held on Tuesday morning where defense attorneys sought Strickland to vacate his conviction.
Lake County Assistant State’s Attorney Jeffrey Facklam argued the judge did not err in his verdict and said that Salinas’ actions were unreasonable when looking at Illinois law.
Strickland denied the request and said he has “absolutely no doubt” that his ruling was correct.
The sentencing hearing proceeded after the motion was denied and defense attorneys argued for a sentence that avoided jail or prison, saying that Salinas was a “good-faith” officer who made a split-second decision with a non-compliant intoxicated subject.
A victim impact statement from Salgado was read into the record by Facklam.
Salgado said the incident traumatized him and his family, including his children, who witnessed the incident. He said it has changed his children’s view of the police and also said that the incident caused a significant financial impact due to missing work for medical appointments and attending court.
“Nobody deserves to go through what I went through,” Salgado said, adding that residents deserve to feel safe in their neighborhood.
Salinas addressed the court and said he takes full responsibility for his actions. He said he wishes the situation had not escalated like it did.
Salinas also said he would comply with whatever sentence the court imposed. He added that being a police officer was the greatest opportunity of his life by helping people in their difficult moments.
Rinehart asked the court to impose felony probation in addition to a 60-day jail sentence. The state’s attorney said what should have been Salinas on routine patrol turned led to Salgado’s broken face.
Rinehart said Salinas was on a “power trip” when his actions caused the injuries to Salgado. He said everything could have been avoided if Salinas had simply stayed in his patrol car and not responded to Salgado’s words by exiting his squad, leading to the physical confrontation.
The state’s attorney also said that Salinas’ actions did not just damage Salgado and his family but also damaged the police department, community and the system, which is built on trust.
Strickland sentenced Salinas to 60 days in jail and 24 months of felony probation, along with 100 hours of public service. Salinas was ordered to pay court costs and have no contact with the Salgado family.
The judge said that Salinas will serve the jail sentence at a later date but not immediately due to him needing to assist his counsel in his murder case.
The jail sentence will be served in another county and not in Lake County so Salinas does not face retribution from people he may have previously encountered while working as a police officer in Waukegan.
Strickland said that while Salinas has no criminal history, there is a need to deter others. He also said he was not considering Salinas’ pending murder case in his sentencing decision.
“Police officers take an oath to protect the community. This former officer betrayed the trust placed in him by the people he was sworn to protect. Instead of upholding that duty, Salinas chose to abuse his authority in an attempt to win an argument with a civilian who posed a threat to no one,” Rinehart said following Tuesday’s sentencing hearing.
“Judge Strickland, with more than 40 years of experience in the justice system, made the right decision in both convicting and sentencing this offender,” he added.
Salinas was not fired from the Waukegan Police Department until more than a year after the Salgado incident.
His termination came after he fatally shot Marcellis Stinnette, which occurred in October 2020. Salinas had been an officer with the department for five years.
Then-Waukegan Police Chief Wayne Walles said Salinas had been fired for “multiple policy and procedure violations.”
Waukegan Mayor Sam Cunningham said that Salinas did not activate his bodycam to properly record the Stinnette shooting.
Salinas was charged in the Stinnette shooting by a grand jury with three counts of second-degree murder, involuntary manslaughter, aggravated battery causing great bodily harm and two counts of official misconduct.
Tafara Williams, who was 20 at the time, and Stinnette, 19, who also lived in Waukegan, were sitting in a car near Liberty Street and Oak Street in Waukegan in front of Williams’ home around 11:55 p.m. on October 20, 2020.
Bodycam footage showed Waukegan Police Officer James Keating drive up in his squad car next to their vehicle.
“Aren’t you the dude who got into an accident? You got into an accident right? What’s your name?” Keating asked.
Stinnette told the officer his name was “King” and Keating replied, “I thought you were Stinnette?”
The officer walked around to the passenger seat of the car where Stinnette was seated and told him he was under arrest because of a warrant.
Williams, who was seated in the driver’s seat, put the car into gear and sped off, nearly running Keating over, the video showed.
A short time later, a second Waukegan police officer, identified as Salinas, spotted the vehicle as it pulled out of a driveway and drove around the first officer’s car, which had its emergency lights activated.
A brief police pursuit ensued and Williams’ car slid off the road near Helmholz Avenue and Martin Luther King Jr. Avenue.
Salinas jumped out of his car and yelled, “Get out of the fu—– car” as Williams’ car reversed, dashcam video showed.
Salinas fired approximately six shots into the vehicle, striking both Williams and Stinnette, as it reversed before coming to a stop when it crashed into a building.
Prosecutors said Salinas was standing next to the vehicle before it reversed but was “clear of its path.”
Stinnette was transported by ambulance to Vista Medical Center East in Waukegan where he was pronounced dead.
Williams was transported by ambulance to Advocate Condell Medical Center in Libertyville in serious condition.
“These charges come after months of investigation by my team. The Illinois State Police completed the bulk of their work by February 2021. Our office retained a trajectory expert to analyze the Illinois State Police’s investigation and to fully explain the timeline of the incident, the location of Salinas, and the trajectory of his bullets,” Lake County State’s Attorney Eric Rinehart said at the time Salinas was charged with murder.
Rinehart said a forensic expert traveled to the area after Illinois State Police completed their investigation.
The expert “painstakingly studied the car, the intersection, the video footage, and the bullets themselves,” Rinehart said.
“His work was even more important because Officer Salinas did not turn on his body camera. We received the final report from our expert in July 2022. We presented that matter to the Grand Jury yesterday,” Rinehart previously said.
Salinas surrendered himself to the Lake County Jail after being charged in the Salgado and Stinnette incidents. He was released after posting 10% of a $350,000 bond.
The murder charges against Salinas are still active and a resolution has not been reached in the case yet.
A case management conference is set for December 3 in that case.