Jury finds former Wichita police officer not guilty on two misdemeanor counts

A jury found a former Wichita police officer not guilty of two misdemeanor counts stemming from an incident when he was still with the police department, according to court records released this week.

Anthony Villegas was found not guilty Wednesday of official misconduct and criminal history record dissemination. He had been with the department since July 2008 before being placed on paid leave when the charges were filed in December 2022.

He was terminated July 26, 2023.

Villegas could not be reached for comment.

The allegations against him stem from a Nov. 21, 2022, call in the 2400 block of North Rosenthal. Two people were charged in the case, both on suspicion of kidnapping, attempted aggravated robbery with a weapon and criminal damage to property.

Villegas was a community police officer in the police department’s south bureau. He helped direct and played the guitar in a lip sync battle the department did in 2018 after being challenged by the Salina Police Department and community organizations. Police lip sync battles were popular on the internet at the time.