Former Waukegan police officer sentenced to 60 days in jail, 2 years of probation in misconduct case

Dante Salinas facing second-degree murder, involuntary manslaughter charges in second case

ByABC7 Chicago Digital Team WLS logo

Tuesday, October 28, 2025

Ex-suburban cop convicted in use of force case

WAUKEGAN, Ill. (WLS) -- A former Waukegan police officer has been sentenced in a 2019 felony official misconduct case.

Dante Salinas was sentenced to 24 months of probation and 60 days in jail.

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"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. Judge Strickland, with more than 40 years of experience in the justice system, made the right decision in both convicting and sentencing this offender," Lake County State's Attorney Eric Rinehart said in a statement.

Salinas was fired from the Waukegan Police Department in 2020, shortly after being involved in a police shooting.

But about a year earlier, in 2019, he was accused of an aggravated assault during a confrontation with a suspect outside of a baptism party in Waukegan.

Nearly six years ago, Salinas stopped at a Waukegan home, where a couple dozen family members and friends were celebrating, after reportedly hearing loud noise coming from the yard.

That led to a confrontation with Angel Salgado, a man at the party. Prosecutors say the confrontation escalated with Salinas pulling out his gun before switching to his Taser.

Salinas pulled out the gun within moments of getting out of his squad car, video shows.

"He came out pointing the gun at Salgado's face. At that point he has to have justification for shooting him. And Mr. Salgado has his hands up, no weapon. This is outrageous," attorney Kevin O'Connor said.

Salinas' bodycam shows him firing the Taser at Salgado several times. Prosecutors say the officer also punched Salgado in the face, breaking his eye socket.

In a bench trial, Judge George Strickland found Salinas guilty of battery and official misconduct. He was found not guilty of aggravated battery.

The judge said none of this was justified, while also acknowledging police officers have a difficult job.

"I can't remember a time I saw an officer resort to striking (a suspect) this quickly. This should not have occurred," Strickland said.

Prosecutors say they believe it's the first time in Waukegan history a police officer has been convicted in relation to an arrest.

Investigators say Salinas also shot and killed 19-year old Marcellis Stinnette and injured his girlfriend, Tafarra Williams, after trying to stop the couple's car.

Waukegan police said the incident started as a traffic stop, with Salinas investigating a suspicious vehicle. But the situation quickly escalated to a police-chase-turned-shooting heard on police dashcam video.

Prosecutors say Salinas fired seven shots but did not have his body camera recording until after the shooting.

Rinehart says Stinnette was a passenger in Williams' car and did not commit any crime.

Neither Stinnette nor Williams had any weapons on them, Rinehart says.

Salinas is charged with second-degree murder and involuntary manslaughter for the October 2020 shooting death.

A trial date has not yet been set in that case.

The video in the player above is from an earlier report.