A man brought to the Santa Clarita Courthouse on an arrest warrant took a plea deal in court and is now in custody at state prison, according to California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation records online.
Rafael Salinas, 34, was arrested in January by deputies with the Sheriff’s Department Crime Impact Team, with local station officials indicating at the time that he had an outstanding arrest warrant for suspicion of assaulting a police officer.
Salinas was back in court March 18 as an “arrest warrant pickup,” according to the minute order for Department 1.
Salinas, identified as a veteran in court records, pleaded no contest to one count of contempt of court, which resulted in a second count, a misdemeanor domestic violence-battery charge, being dismissed.
He was ordered to serve eight months in L.A. County jail, time that may be served in “any penal institution and jail time to run concurrent with any other case,” according to the minute order.
The original allegation Salinas was sought for stemmed from a report of an auto theft that deputies investigated July 8, 2025, in the area of Newhall Avenue and Sierra Highway in Newhall, according to station officials.
He was seen driving at a high rate of speed and deputies then discovered the vehicle he was in had been reported stolen.
A station official said at the time that the alleged assault happened at the end of the pursuit, when Salinas “jumped out of the vehicle while it was still in motion, and then the vehicle collided into a patrol car,” according to a January interview with Shirley Miller, spokeswoman for the Santa Clarita Valley Sheriff’s Station.
The records for that case, which was tried in San Fernando, were not available as of this story’s publication.
L.A. County Sheriff’s Department custody records indicated that Salinas was released March 30 into the custody of a state correctional facility in Delano.
Records indicate he’s eligible for parole in August 2027.
