Ex-Cave City football coach sentenced for terroristic threatening

A former Cave City teacher and football coach pleaded guilty earlier this month to threatening to kill his estranged wife, an incident that forced a local medical office into a security lockdown last spring.

Circuit Judge Tim Weaver sentenced Dillon Ray Sallas, 32, to nine months of probation after Sallas entered a guilty plea to second-degree terroristic threatening. As part of the sentence, Weaver ordered Sallas to have no contact with the victim for at least one year.

The charges stem from a March 27, 2025, incident that began when Sallas’ estranged wife contacted Batesville police to report he was making threats to shoot her. According to court affidavits, the victim received a text message from Sallas stating, “You’ll see me later today, you got exactly what you got coming.”

The threat level escalated when Sallas’ own mother called the victim to warn her to “stay inside and to lock her doors,” claiming her son had explicitly stated his intention to shoot his ex-wife, Detective Brenda Bittle noted in the report.

The threats prompted a security response at the victim’s workplace on Hospital Circle. Hospital security was summoned, and the medical office was closed to the public.

Court records show the victim had filed for divorce in June 2024 and was in the process of obtaining an order of protection at the time of the threats.

Sallas, who previously served as an assistant football coach and teacher at Cave City and also had an earlier career in law enforcement, was arrested the day of the incident and later released on $2,500 bond.

Dillon Ray Sallas