Garcia hit with felony charges

Jockey Matt Garcia was arraigned in Pasadena, Calif., Superior Court on Tuesday, charged with three felonies and one misdemeanor related to domestic violence, according to the detective bureau commander of the Monrovia, Calif., Police Department.

According to the commander, Lt. Rick Wagnon, Garcia threatened his wife, Heidi, by phone on Friday, in violation of a court order put into place in May, then also threatened two Monrovia police officers.

"In violation of the restraining order, he kept calling his wife," Wagnon said. "She called us, and while officers were on the scene, they picked up the phone for one of the calls, and he made threats to them that he had a gun, had them in his sights, and was going to shoot them.

"He wasn't there, and he didn't have a gun, but that's a credible threat, the language he used to the two officers on the scene."

The felony charges against Garcia are for criminal threats to his wife and the two officers, Wagnon said. The misdemeanor is for contacting his wife in violation of the court order.

Garcia was arrested in the paddock before the first race at Del Mar on Friday by the San Diego County Sheriff's Department, which held Garcia until Monrovia police arrived. Garcia has been jailed since, Wagnon said.

Garcia, 38, has won just once in 17 mounts at Del Mar this summer, and he has 7 wins in 91 mounts for the year.