For Artem Chigvintsev it might be a small consolation that he is not going to be prosecuted in connection together with his arrest last month in Napa County on suspicion of domestic violence.
Napa County District Attorney Allison Haley announced Tuesday that her office had declined to file charges against the “Dancing with the Stars” pro. TMZ reported. While Chigvintsev is seemingly still facing a divorce from his estranged wife, former WWE dancer Nikki Garcia, Haley said her office was unable to prove beyond an affordable doubt that the Russian-born ballroom dancer committed against the law.
Chigvintsev was arrested on suspicion of domestic violence on August 29, regarding an “assault” of a domestic partner that occurred within the Yountville wine region. The dancer had made an emergency call, asking for medical help and saying that shoes had been thrown at him, TMZ reported last month.
Chigvintsev then withdrew the request for assistance, but deputies arrived anyway and took him into custody. Henry Wofford, spokesman for the Napa County Sheriff's Office, told E! News that an arrest for aggravated domestic violence is often made when the alleged victim has visible injuries. “Our deputies felt comfortable arresting him for aggravated domestic violence,” Wofford said.
A couple of hours after Chigvintsev was booked into the Napa County Jail, he was released on $25,000 bail and left the Napa County home he shared with Garcia and their four-year-old son, TMZ reported.
The gossip site reported earlier this month that Garcia had “called” lawyers to file for divorce from the dancer. TMZ also reported on Tuesday that the estranged spouses are fighting over custody.
Before his arrest, Chigvintsev was not scheduled to return for season 33 of “Dancing With the Stars,” E! News reported, but his arrest raises the likelihood that he may never return to the ABC dance competition show.
News of Chigvintsev's divorce from Garcia also brought an end to what gave the look of a fairytale reality TV-style love story involving the 2 celebrities, who met while appearing together on the show. They dated for season 25 of “DWTS” in 2017, began dating and got engaged in 2020. That 12 months, Garcia also gave birth to her son.
They married in a lavish wedding in Paris in August 2022 and purchased a house in Napa Valley surrounded by large grounds, the New York Post and Life and Style reported. They showed off their home for an episode of “MTV Cribs” in November 2023.
But behind the scenes, the wedding was troubled and “unstable” for years, friends of the couple and former solid and crew members of “DWTS” told TMZ. The alleged tension between the couple was “obvious” to everyone around them, TMZ reported.
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