Police arrested a Utah man after they allege he held his girlfriend and her family hostage for six months under the guise that “the cartel” was after them.
According to Salt Lake County court records, 23-year-old Dominic Garcia was arrested on May 17 for 28 alleged offenses, including seven counts of aggravated assault, seven counts of aggravated kidnapping, seven counts of threat of violence, and seven counts of hazing with the use of a dangerous weapon.
According to a probable cause affidavit obtained by USA TODAY, officers from the Unified Police Department of Greater Salt Lake responded to 911 calls on May 17 from a home in Millcreek, on the outskirts of Salt Lake City, regarding a man and his six family members being held hostage by their pregnant daughter’s boyfriend, later identified as Garcia.
When police arrived at the home, they discovered Garcia being held at gunpoint. According to the affidavit, Garcia’s family members told police that they were holding him like that because they “weren’t able to take it anymore.”
Garcia allegedly forced girlfriend’s family to move houses
When Garcia was arrested, the family spoke with police and described the months they spent under his control in their own home.
According to the affidavit, Garcia moved in with the family in December 2024. When Garcia arrived, he “almost immediately” informed them that his family owned a business with ties to “the cartel,” according to the court document.
According to the affidavit, Garcia told the family that in order “to stay on the good side” of the cartel, they needed to do what he said. Garcia allegedly informed the family that the “cartel would kill them if they did not do what they were told.”
The family told police that one day Garcia said “his grandfather’s business did a bad deal,” which forced everyone to move to a different house for about a month.
Garcia told police he kept up cartel lie so girlfriend’s family would ‘like him’
When they returned from hiding, one of the family members texted a friend, explaining why they had left. The affidavit stated that Garcia saw the text and immediately threatened to kill the entire family for disobeying his order.
The affidavit went on to say that Garcia forced another family member to attend a “boot camp” where they were forced to work out five times a day, take ice baths, and hold their face underwater until they couldn’t breathe.
According to the affidavit, other family members told police that they were barely able to leave the house because of Garcia’s threats, and that he had implemented rules, including limiting outside time to two hours per person.
Another family member stated in the court document that they missed one month of their senior year of high school because they were “extremely scared and believed her life was in danger.” Garcia’s pregnant girlfriend informed police that he had made numerous threats against her and her family.
When questioned by police, Garcia claimed he “did not know how to stop (the cartel lie) in fear that they would not like him,” according to the affidavit.
According to the court document, all seven family members believe Garcia is still a threat to them, believing he “will come after them if he is let out of jail,” and that the cartel will target them as well. According to the affidavit, Garcia had access to handguns and threatened to use or allow others to use those weapons to kill or harm his girlfriend’s family.
As of May 20, court records do not show Garcia’s defense attorney.
