Artem Chigvintsev avoids criminal charges after arrest for domestic violence, prosecutor says

Artem Chigvintsev will not face criminal charges following his arrest on domestic violence charges on Aug. 29, the Napa County District Attorney’s Office announced in a news release Tuesday.

According to the prosecutor’s office, the decision not to charge the “Dancing with the Stars” professional was made “after a thorough review of the criminal investigation and a careful evaluation of the evidence presented to the prosecutor’s office.”

“While we take every arrest seriously and stand firmly against domestic violence, we have an ethical obligation to only file charges when the evidence supports it,” Napa County District Attorney Allison Haley said in a statement included in the press release. “We are required to prove each and every criminal charge ‘beyond a reasonable doubt,’ which is the highest standard in the American criminal justice system. If the available evidence does not meet that level of proof, we cannot ethically file charges.”

Officials did not release details about who the alleged victim was at the time of Chigvintsev’s arrest, but told ABC News they would give the person “sufficient time to deal with the incident before asking him to speak further with detectives” and that the alleged victim had provided initial information to officers.

Chigvintsev’s wife, WWE Hall of Famer Nikki Garcia, filed for divorce on September 11, shortly after his arrest.

“The Napa County District Attorney’s Office does not normally issue press releases when it declines to file charges against a specific individual. However, in this case, it has done so due to the intense media interest the case has received since Mr. Chigvintsev’s arrest,” the prosecutor’s office said Tuesday.

This story is evolving and will be updated.