A Utah man was arrested by police after they say he held both his girlfriend and her family hostage for six months under the pretense that "the cartel" was after them. According to Salt Lake County court records, 23-year-old Dominic Garcia was booked into jail on May 17 on 28 alleged offenses, which include seven counts of aggravated assault, seven counts of aggravated kidnapping, seven counts of threat of violence, as well as seven counts of hazing involving the use of a dangerous weapon. In a probable cause affidavit obtained by USA TODAY, officers with the Unified Police Department of Greater Salt Lake said they responded to 911 calls on May 17 from a home in Millcreek, located in 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. Once police arrived at the home, they found Garcia being held at gunpoint. Family members told police that they held Garcia like that because they "weren't able to take it any longer," the affidavit read. Once Garcia was taken into custody, the family spoke to police and recounted the months they spent under his control inside their own home. According to the affidavit, Garcia moved in with the family back in December 2024. When Garcia arrived, he "almost immediately" told them that his family was part of a business with ties to "the cartel," the court document continued. The affidavit also states that Garcia told the family that in order "to stay on the good side" of the cartel, they needed to do what he said. Garcia then allegedly told 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 required everybody to move to a different house for about a month. Once they returned from hiding, one of the family members texted a friend explaining why they left. Garcia saw the text and immediately threatened to kill the whole family for disobeying his order, the affidavit said. The affidavit continued, alleging that Garcia forced another family member into a "boot camp" where they were forced to work out five times a day, do ice baths and hold their face underwater until unable to breathe. Other family members told police that they were barely able to leave the house due to Garcia's threats, saying that he had implemented rules, including allowing a maximum of two hours of outside time per person, according to the affidavit. Another family member said in the court document that they missed a month of their senior year of high school and "was extremely scared and believed her life was in danger." Garcia's pregnant girlfriend told police that he had made repeated threats to her and her family. When questioned by police, Garcia said he "did not know how to stop (the cartel lie) in fear that they would not like him," the affidavit says. According to the court document, all seven family members said Garcia is still a danger to them, believing that he "will come after them if he is let out of jail," and that the cartel would target them too. The affidavit says Garcia had access to handguns and was threatening to use or have others use those weapons to kill or cause harm to his girlfriend's family. As of May 20, court records do not show a defense attorney representing Garcia. Fernando Cervantes Jr. is a trending news reporter for USA TODAY. Reach him at fernando.cervantes@gannett.com and follow him on X @fern_cerv_. This article originally appeared on USA TODAY:Man in Utah accused of kidnapping girlfriend's family for 6 months
