Napa County Sheriff’s Office officials confirmed the arrest of Dancing With the Stars veteran Artem Chigvintsev to Dailymail.com on Thursday, noting that deputies witnessed clear physical evidence of domestic violence before taking the ABC star into custody.
Chigvintsev, 42, was arrested in Yountville, California, early Thursday in connection with a suspected felony domestic violence charge by department officers, Wofford told Dailymail.com on Thursday.
“When it comes to serious domestic violence, it’s not just hearsay,” Napa County Sheriff’s Office spokesman Henry Wofford told Dailymail.com on Thursday. “The officers saw something that is obvious.”
Wofford explained: “I’m not telling you this is what happened in this particular case, but sometimes there was evidence of blood, sometimes scratches, sometimes bruises, it’s something visible where the officers said, ‘Okay, we’re going to make this arrest.'”
Officers spoke to Chigvintsev and arrested him on a felony domestic violence charge, Wofford told Dailymail.com on Thursday, adding that the dance professional was “cooperative” and “did not fight with our officers or anything of that nature.”
Napa County Sheriff’s Office officials confirmed the arrest of 42-year-old Dancing With the Stars veteran Artem Chigvintsev to Dailymail.com on Thursday, noting that deputies witnessed clear physical evidence of domestic violence before taking him into custody.
Chigvintsev was photographed competing on the show last year with a celebrity partner.
A 911 call from the scene went out to the home around 8:30 a.m., people close to the investigation said. TMZ Thursday after an unidentified person called to report a “medical emergency” at the property.
Sources told the outlet that “paramedics and firefighters were on the way, someone from the home called 911 again to cancel the request” and both agencies returned to their stations.
According to the Napa County Arrest DatabaseThe specific state penal code applies to suspects who ‘intentionally (inflict) bodily injury resulting in a traumatic condition’ toward a ‘spouse or former spouse’; ‘cohabitant or former cohabitant;’ ‘fiancé or fiancée;’ ‘someone with whom the offender is, or previously was, in an engaged or dating relationship;’ or ‘the mother or father of the offender’s child.’
Wofford told Dailymail.com on Thursday that Chigvintsev was booked into the Napa County Department of Corrections at 10:40 a.m., with bail set at $25,000.
Chigvintsev posted bail around 2:15 p.m. and was no longer in custody Thursday night, Wofford told Dailymail.com on Thursday.
Wofford told Dailymail.com on Thursday that there was only one other person connected to the incident, but declined to identify the victim or provide details, as requested.
Wofford said that as of Thursday night, he was not aware of any protective orders filed by the victim or on her behalf by authorities.
“We will take our time as we do in every domestic violence case,” Wofford said. “No one gets preferential treatment and no one is left out.”
Chigvintsev posted bail at around 2:15 p.m. and was no longer in custody Thursday evening, authorities told Dailymail.com. Pictured in 2020
Chigvintsev has appeared on the ABC ballroom dancing competition for 13 seasons; pictured last fall
‘When it comes to victims of domestic violence, it’s common for both male and female victims to not be fully prepared to tell the whole story shortly after the incident, so we’re not going to rush into it… and we’re also being patient.’
Wofford told Dailymail.com that the department was focused on providing “a support system for the victim.”
Wofford said an investigation was underway to determine whether Chigvintsev had violated any laws with his conduct prior to his arrest Thursday.
“We want the victim to know that we want to hear her story and if we need to investigate, whether it’s an isolated incident or whether it’s an ongoing incident, we’re happy to investigate,” Wofford said. “We’ll do everything we can to protect our community.”
Wofford said information about Chigvintsev’s pending court hearing dates was not immediately available.
Chigvintsev celebrated his second wedding anniversary with his wife Nikki Garcia, 40, who previously wrestled in WWE under the ring name Nikki Bella, three days ago and the couple are parents to a three-year-old son, Matteo.
The two first crossed paths in 2017, when they were both part of season 25 of Dancing With the Stars.
Chigvintsev has had high-profile relationships with other celebrities in the past, having been married to dancer Giselle Peacock, 43, from 2004 to 2005 and dating DWTS judge Carrie Ann Inaba, 56, from 2006 to 2008.
Three days ago, Chigvintsev celebrated his second wedding anniversary with his wife Nikki Garcia, 40, who previously wrestled in WWE under the name Nikki Bella. Pictured in New York in 2023
The two first crossed paths in 2017 when they were paired together on season 25 of Dancing With the Stars. Pictured in Los Angeles in October 2017.
Garcia was previously engaged to WWE star/actor John Cena, 47, but the relationship ended in July 2018.
Chigvintsev appeared in a total of 111 episodes of Dancing with the Stars between 2009 and 2023, earning an Emmy nomination for Outstanding Choreography for Variety or Reality Programming for his work on the series in 2021.
A source said Page six On Thursday that ‘there were no plans for Artem to be a part of season 33.’
He was born in Izhevsk, Russia and moved to the United States in 2003. Chigvintsev appeared on the series So You Think You Can Dance in 2006 and then appeared on the UK version of Strictly Come Dancing from 2010 to 2013.
If you or someone you know is affected by any of the issues raised in this story, please call the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 1-800-799-SAFE (7233) or text START to 88788.
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