Granite City man guilty of burglary, attacking officer in ex-girlfriend’s home

A Madison County jury found a Granite City man guilty Wednesday of breaking into a woman’s home and attacking a police officer who responded.

Jurors deliberated less than an hour before convicting Victor S. Dantzson, 52, of residential burglary, aggravated battery and threatening a public official, according to a release from State’s Attorney Tom Haine’s office. Dantzson faces up to 30 years in prison.

Prosecutors said Dantzson used a screwdriver to break into the home of an ex-girlfriend March 4, 2025, on Benton Street in Granite City. The woman was not home at the time, but returned to find him in her bedroom, authorities said.

A responding officer was kicked and threatened, prosecutors said.

Assistant State’s Attorney Morgan Hudson, chief of the office’s criminal division, and Assistant State’s Attorney Gina McNabnay prosecuted the case, according to the release. In closing arguments, Hudson told jurors, “Ladies and gentlemen, if you need a screwdriver to get in, you should not be there.”

Prosecutors said the woman had changed locks and set up traps inside the home because she feared Dantzson.

The state also played a patrol-vehicle video recorded after Dantzson was taken into custody in which he can be heard saying, “I’m killing that bitch,” prosecutors said. After his arrest, Dantzson tried to call the woman 501 times from jail, the prosecutor said.

Hudson argued the evidence showed Dantzson would not accept the end of the relationship.

“He wouldn’t take ‘no’ for an answer,” she told jurors, according to the release.

Prosecutors also presented evidence that Dantzson was convicted in an earlier case involving a different ex-girlfriend, saying he repeatedly broke into her home and stabbed her. He was convicted of armed violence and sentenced to 17 years in prison, according to court records. Prosecutors argued that conviction showed a pattern of behavior.

Associate Judge Emily Nielsen presided over the trial, which began Tuesday. The verdict was returned Wednesday afternoon.

Haine commended the Granite City Police Department and the prosecution team, calling the outcome “the result of outstanding teamwork.”