Former Waukegan police officer Dante Salinas has been found guilty of official misconduct in a bench trial related to punching a civilian.

Judge George Strickland presided over the bench trial and found Salinas guilty of one felony count of official misconduct. Prosecutors said on Aug. 21, 2019, Salinas was on routine patrol when he stopped in front of Angel Salgado's in-laws' yard, got out and talked to him and tried to arrest him.

Prosecutors said Salgado argued and ran into a fenced-in yard area, where Salinas followed and punched him two to three times. More officers responded as backup shortly thereafter

Prosecutors said that while Salgado tried to resist his improper arrest, at no point did he never punched, hit or kicked any officer, and none of the backup officers punched him.

The judge found that even though Salgado was resisting arrest, Salinas was unreasonable in the force he used.

Salinas is awaiting trial on three counts of second-degree murder and one count of involuntary manslaughter for the Oct. 20, 2020 shooting death of Marcellis Stinnette. He fatally shot Stinnette and shot and injured his girlfriend Tafarra Williams as they tried to speed away from a traffic stop. Salinas' body camera was not turned on until after the shooting.

It was not immediately known when Salinas' murder trial is scheduled to begin.