By Dave Dahl
SPRINGFIELD – The state trooper injured during a traffic stop a week ago along Toronto Road suffered more than a mere gunshot wound to the leg.
State police director Brendan Kelly (pictured) said Tuesday afternoon Dakota Chapman-Green was wounded in both legs and suffered a skull fracture and brain bleed. The suspect Chapman-Green pulled over, Cristobal Santana, is accused of beating the trooper about the head and face after emptying his magazine.
Santana was caught after a three-hour search.
“He’s still in the hospital and continues to improve each day,” Kelly said Tuesday. “He’s in good spirits, and he looked a hell of a lot better than he did last week, thank God.
‘He had a smile on his face and, no doubt, he’s got the heart of a trooper.”
Santana was taken to a hospital because of injuries he suffered while being apprehended. Authorities would not say where he is now. And as for the death of his former girlfriend in Chicago just two days before the incident with the trooper, Kelly would only say Santana is a person of interest.
Dave Dahl can be reached at news@WJBC.com.
