Dancing with the Stars pro Artem Chigvintsev posted a romantic tribute to his wife, Nikki Garcia, to mark their two-year wedding anniversary, days before he was arrested and booked on a felony domestic violence charge.
Chigvintsev was arrested on August 29 in Yountville, California, following a 911 call before 10 a.m. local time, Napa County Sheriff's public information officer Henry Wofford told E! News. Per police, Chigvintsev was detained at the Napa County Department of Correction and later released on $25,000 bail after 2 p.m.
"When someone is charged with felony domestic violence, usually this means there is a visible injury or credible eye witness," Wofford said in a statement. "Our deputies felt comfortable arresting him on felony domestic violence charges."
Due to laws protecting the privacy of domestic violence victims, the name, age, and gender of the alleged victim have not been publicly disclosed. Authorities have also declined to disclose Chigvintsev's relationship to the unnamed person.
Online jail records show that Chigvintsev was arrested under section 273.5(a) of the California penal code, which covers corporal injury to a current or former spouse, cohabitant, coparent, or partner in an act of domestic violence.
Newsweek has contacted representatives of Chigvintsev and Garcia via email for comment.
While Chigvintsev, 42, and retired WWE star Garcia, 40, have yet to publicly comment on the arrest, they were forthcoming in declaring their love for one another as they shared social media posts to mark their wedding anniversary on August 26.
Taking to Instagram and X, formerly Twitter, Chigvintsev shared a pair of photos from the couple's wedding day, adding the caption: "Happy anniversary my love, can't see my life with out you. You are my everything."
"Happy Anniversary Click," Garcia responded in the comments. "Love you so much!"
For her part, Garcia shared footage on Instagram of the couple's wedding day with Haley Reinhart's rendition of the classic track "Can't Help Falling in Love" serving as the soundtrack.
"This song is our love story," Garcia, who previously went by the last name Bella, captioned the footage. "I'll never forget where I was when I asked Jesus about Artem. Having a conversation with He & God. How my feelings felt too soon. It all felt too fast. And then this song came on. And that's when I knew that I was falling in love with him and that it was all meant to be."
"Happy Anniversary @theartemc I love you!" Garcia added in conclusion.
Garcia and Chigvintsev met when they were partnered on the 25th season of Dancing with the Stars in 2017. Following Garcia's split from fiancé John Cena one year later, Garcia and Chigvintsev reconnected and embarked on a romantic relationship. They welcomed son Matteo on July 31, 2020 and married in 2022.
Garcia had previously talked about working through marital issues on a November 2021 episode of The Nikki & Brie Show podcast she hosts with her sister, which was formerly called The Bellas Podcast. Garcia said that she and Chigvintsev were "in a good spot" after working through a "rocky" period.
"[We] had to get back into therapy. You know, distance is really hard," Garcia said, explaining that the pair had been apart while she was filming America's Got Talent: Extreme while her husband was filming Dancing with the Stars. "Now we're stronger than ever."
If you or someone you know are experiencing domestic violence, please call the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 1-800-799-7233 for confidential support.
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