US man held girlfriend’s family hostage for 6 months over fake cartel threat: police | World News

A 23-year-old man from Utah, US, allegedly kept his girlfriend’s family captive for six months convincing them that a drug cartel was targeting them, according to police.
Dominic Chropher Garcia was arrested on Saturday and is facing several serious charges including aggravated kidnapping, assault, and threats of violence. The Unified Police Department of Greater Salt Lake said they responded to a call from a man who claimed his family had been held against their will inside their Millcreek home.
Police said in a statement seen NBC News that the family had finally decided to confront Garcia, holding him at gunpoint until officers arrived.
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Garcia had been living with the family since December 2024. He was allowed to move in the father of his pregnant girlfriend, identified in legal documents as “RS.”
According to the police affidavit, “almost immediately after moving in, he  started telling the family that his family was part of a business that had ties to the cartel.” He claimed the cartel expected them to take certain precautions for their safety.
He later admitted to police that he had made up the entire story. Officers wrote, “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 six months.”
Garcia reportedly had access to firearms during this period. One of the guns, a 10-millimetre handgun, had been bought his girlfriend’s father. Though Garcia claimed it was for protection, police said he used it to intimidate the family. “He would point the gun around the house, empty it, and then point the gun at random members of the family as a game,” the affidavit stated, as reported The Independent.Story continues below this ad
One family member told officers that Garcia had pointed the weapon at her and threatened her life, saying the ‘men’ he claimed were cartel members wanted her punished for messaging a friend.
Officers also said Garcia monitored the family’s phones and would become angry over anything he didn’t agree with. “He would routinely go through their phones and check to see who they were communicating with and would confront them,” police noted.
The family was not allowed to leave the house freely, and Garcia would shout at them if they stayed out longer than he allowed. When questioned police, Garcia reportedly said he “continued this lie for several months because he did not know how to stop it in fear that they would not like him.”
He is currently being held without bail at the Salt Lake County Jail. Officers said the family remains afraid he may return if he is released. Garcia is facing seven counts each of aggravated kidnapping, aggravated assault, hazing with a dangerous weapon, and making violent threats.
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