CALIFORNIA—On Wednesday, April 1, the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office announced that a former Metropolitan State Hospital Police chief and one of his officers have been charged with felony grand theft, accused of submitting fraudulent timecards to divert public funds for private gain.
Donald Santarin Salvador, 44, of Lake Forest, the former Chief of Police for the California Department of State Hospitals in Norwalk, is charged with one count of grand theft in case 26CJCF01967. Former hospital police officer Daniel James Beauregard, 52, of Northridge is charged with one felony count of grand theft.
Salvador is scheduled to be arraigned Wednesday in Department 30 of the Foltz Criminal Justice Center. He is expected to be released on his own recognizance and required to comply with all laws and court-ordered conditions. Beauregard is set to be arraigned at a later date.
From November 2022 through April 2023, Salvador and Beauregard are accused of scheming to submit timecards for hours that Beauregard did not spend performing police duties. It is alleged he worked on projects for a private business owned by Salvador, Daly Strategic Group LLC, a security consulting company. The estimated loss exceeded $40,000.
If convicted as charged, each face 3 years in state prison to be served in county jail.
