Artem Chigvintsev Accuses Nikki Garcia of Being ‘Primary Aggressor’ in Fight That Led to Arrest

DHLTV

Transcript

00:00There's also disturbing new abuse claims

00:02and photos emerging from Nikki Garcia

00:04and ex-Artem Chigvintsev's fight

00:06that landed him in jail.

00:09Showing what looks like red scrapes

00:10on his elbow, neck, and finger,

00:12the former dancing pro is firing back

00:15in court docs against his ex.

00:17Both were granted temporary restraining orders

00:19against each other.

00:20In Nikki's petition filed Monday,

00:22she says Artem quote,

00:23tackled me multiple times and pinned me to the ground

00:26during that August altercation.

00:28Both say it began with bickering

00:30over their four-year-old son's breakfast

00:32and an English muffin being toasted wrong.

00:35Is Artem coming back to Dancing with the Stars?

00:37They don't tell him till kind of like,

00:40I think it's like August.

00:41Nikki alleges Artem has anger issues

00:44and was already moody over not being asked back

00:46for season 33 of Dancing.

00:49When she criticized his cooking,

00:50he began quote, screaming about me

00:52having made Mateo a picky eater.

00:54Nikki admits she then threw Mateo's toddler-sized

00:57seven shoes at Artem.

00:59His wife threw shoes.

01:01But when he grabbed Mateo and took him upstairs,

01:03Nikki followed, claiming Artem quote,

01:06tackled me and I felt like I was suffocating

01:08when he had his hands on my chest, pressing down.

01:11She alleges Mateo told Sheriff's daddy hurt my hand.

01:15Nikki's rep tells ET she filed the restraining order

01:17to protect herself and her son.

01:20He got into an argument with his wife.

01:22Artem, who called 911 that morning

01:24and was never charged,

01:25denies ever tackling her via his attorney

01:28and yesterday accused his estranged retired wrestler wife

01:31of being the primary aggressor who quote,

01:34continued to physically attack me.

01:36There was a mutual struggle and both ended up on the ground.

01:39When we really started to communicate on things

01:41because we realized we lacked that in our relationship,

01:44like we were hitting heads.

01:46Nikki, who filed for divorce 13 days later,

01:48wants full custody.

01:50Artem wants joint.

01:51A source tells ET their strong personalities

01:54and intense emotions contributed to their demise.

01:57They don't want Mateo to suffer because of their issues.

02:00A hearing is set for October 21st.

02:03Not to say that those allegations aren't meritorious,

02:06but judges sometimes look at them skeptically.

02:09People are trying to use them as leverage to gain custody

02:13or maybe a more favorable settlement in a divorce.

Category

Transcript

Recommended