For six grueling months, a Utah man allegedly held his girlfriend and her family against their will after convincing them that the cartel was out to get them.
Dominic Christopher Garcia, 23, was arrested on Saturday on multiple assault and kidnapping charges, according to the Unified Police Department of Greater Salt Lake.
Police responded to the home in Millcreek after someone called and claimed their family of seven people were being held hostage by Garcia, their daughter’s boyfriend. The family was “not able to take it any longer, and they were holding (Garcia) at gunpoint until police arrived.”
Garcia had “repeatedly told them the cartel would kill them if they did not do what they were told,” police said in a probable cause affidavit obtained by NBC News.
He later admitted to police that it was all a lie.
“The family has lived in constant fear of Dominic and the people Dominic has led them to believe were trying to kill them for approximately 6 months,” police said. “Dominic has had access to handguns and has been threatening to use or have others use those weapons causing death to the family, causing them to believe their [lives were] in danger.”
According to the affidavit, the father of Garcia’s pregnant girlfriend had allowed him to move into their home in December 2024.
The father, who was referred to as “RS” in the affidavit, told police that “almost immediately (after moving in), he (Garcia) started telling the family that his family was part of a business that had ties to the cartel and that in order to stay on the cartel’s good side, they needed to do certain things, and they needed to be diligent in their safety.”
Garcia began carrying a 10-millimeter handgun that was purchased by his girlfriend’s father, according to the affidavit, with Garcia claiming that it was for protection but that he “would point the gun around the house,” empty it and “then point the gun at random members of the family as a game,” KSL reported.
One family member told police that Garcia pointed the handgun at her and threatened to kill her, according to the affidavit, telling her that “the men wanted her punished and held accountable” for a message she sent to her friend. Police said Garcia would “routinely go through their phones and check to see who they were communicating with and would confront them about anything he did not agree with.”
Garcia would also limit or restrict the family from leaving the home and would yell at them if they left for longer than he allowed, the affidavit states.
When police questioned Garcia on Saturday after his arrest, he said he had “continued this lie for several months because he did not know how to stop it in fear that they would not like him,” police said.
Garcia is charged with seven counts of aggravated assault, seven counts of aggravated kidnapping, seven counts of hazing involving the use of a dangerous weapon and seven counts of threat of violence.
He is being held at the Salt Lake County Jail on no bond due to the family’s fear that he will come after them if released, police said.
