A former Cave City coach has pleaded guilty to threatening to kill his estranged wife, an incident that forced a Batesville medical office to temporarily shut down last year.
Dillon Ray Sallas, 32, pleaded guilty to second-degree terroristic threatening in Independence County Circuit Court. Circuit Judge Tim Weaver sentenced Sallas to nine months of probation and ordered him to have no contact with the victim for at least one year.
According to court documents, Sallas’s estranged wife contacted Batesville police on March 27, 2025, reporting that he had been making threats to shoot her. Investigators say she received a text message from Sallas that read, “You’ll see me later today. You got exactly what you got coming.”
In an affidavit, Detective Brenda Bittle stated that Sallas’s mother also warned the victim to stay inside and lock her doors after Sallas allegedly said he was going to shoot her.
The affidavit states Sallas also sent his mother a message saying he was going to kill the victim and later left a voicemail threatening her.
After the threats were reported, hospital security was called to the victim’s workplace on Hospital Circle in Batesville, and the office closed once the final patient had left for the day.
Court documents indicate the victim had filed for divorce on June 3, 2024, and was in the process of obtaining an order of protection at the time of the incident.
Police arrested Sallas later that afternoon and booked him into the Independence County Jail. Jail records show he was released about 20 minutes later after posting a $2,500 bond.
State employment records for the 2024-25 school year show Sallas worked as an eighth-grade social studies teacher at Cave City Middle School and also served as a football coach.
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