Artem Chigvintsev recently filed for his own restraining order against WWE Hall of Famer Nikki Garcia (Nikki Bella), which was granted by a judge on Thursday. This is the same day Garcia was granted her restraining order against Chingvintsev in relation to the August 29th incident that saw the Dancing With The Stars alum being arrested for domestic battery. The incident resulted in Nikki Garcia filing for divorce on September 11th.
The New York Post is reporting that Chingvintsev was granted a restraining order on Thursday. Chingvintsev’s lawyer denies Garcia’s version of the events, and has issued a statement that reads as follows,
“It is crucial to consider the motivations of both parties in this situation. Mr. Chigvintsev contacted law enforcement on 8/29/24 seeking protection from his wife’s persistent aggression. While he was on the phone with the police, Ms. Garcia-Colace made a pointed statement, saying, ‘Do you understand where this is going now, Artem? You just ruined my career, and you know it.’ That day, someone was going to be arrested, and it wouldn’t have been Mr. Chigvintsev if Ms. Garcia Colace had told the truth. [Chigvintsev] denies ever tackling her. He was shocked to learn two weeks after the incident that she made this allegation against him; at that point it made sense to him why he was arrested. As a result of wife’s self-serving statement, Mr. Chigvintsev’s career suffered, with numerous opportunities being canceled due to these false allegations. Men can also be victims of domestic violence; Mr. Chigvintsev’s case highlights this reality. He was not the primary aggressor.”
In Chingvintsev’s filing, he claims the argument on the morning of August 29th began when Garcia criticized him for not having their son’s breakfast and packed lunch ready before school. Chingvintsev noted that Garcia was “stressed due to her job that was coming up,” which was her co-hosting gig on Netflix’s Unfinished Beef special. He claims she berated him for doing nothing around the house or for their son, which he denies.
Chigvintsev claims Garcia verbally assaulted him as he and his son were headed toward the door to get ready for school. This is when he claims the argument escalated over what type of shoes their son would be wearing that day. Chigvintsev claims his wife “completely lost it and started screaming ‘get the f**k out of my house, I am sick of all of it, I had enough’” before she “forcefully [threw] both of [their son]’s sneakers at me”. He also claims she hit his chest with their son right next to him. He states, “[M]y first reaction was obviously safety of [the son] because he was standing right by my side.”
As you’d expect, their son became “confused” and “looked frightened” as Garcia began screaming about wanting a divorce. This is when Chingvintsev says he “tried to deescalate the situation and take him upstairs to his room.” Chingvintsev says Garcia followed him and attempted to force her way into the room. He states, “I could not hold it [the door], because she’s quite strong” and that their son began crying. Chingvintsev says he was trying to control her “lack of self-control at the moment” so he pushed through the door to stop Garcia from coming in. As he pleaded for Nikki to calm down, a “mutual struggle [occurred], and both ended up on the ground.”
Chingvintsev then says he went outside and called law enforcement and waited for them to arrive. He states, “I had no idea what she told the police, but to my surprise I ended up getting arrested. I was not the primary aggressor, she definitely was. Since the 8/29/24 incident, I learned on 9/13/24 that she lied to the police that I tackled her twice, which is absolutely false.”
The judge overseeing the case says both Chingvintsev and Garcia will share joint custody of their son for the time being and “there shall be reasonable daily FaceTime contact between the child and non custodial parent.”
Additionally, neither side is allowed to “make negative statements about the other in the presence of hearing of the child or question the child about the other parent.”
A hearing on the matter will be taking place on October 21st.
Source: eWn
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