Manny Abarca’s wife says he ‘threw her to the ground.’ He denies in court document
Jackson County Legislator Manuel “Manny” Abarca IV threw his wife to the ground during an argument in Shawnee that led to her asking a judge to impose a restraining order against him, according to court filing made public on Monday.
He was later charged with domestic battery.
In the lightly redacted charging affidavit, Abarca denies throwing his wife to the ground in Shawnee last month. Rather, he told police that she fell backwards when he yanked her purse as she was removing items from a vehicle outside his father’s house that day.
Abarca was arrested on June 4 and arraigned the next day in Johnson County District Court on the battery charge. He pleaded not guilty and was released on a personal recognizance bond while awaiting future court proceedings.
His next hearing is July 9.
In a recent interview with Star opinion writer Toriano Porter, Abarca denied hitting his wife, Alexis Garcia, during an argument in front of his father’s house in Shawnee on May 29.
“It is not within my character to hit my wife,” he told Porter. “To hit anyone is not within my character.
The specific allegations were not public knowledge until the affidavit was released to those who requested it on Monday morning. It does not say Abarca hit his wife. But it does include allegations of physical contact during an argument that concerned their 2-year-old son, whom along with Abarca was declared a missing person for several days on the Kansas Bureau of Investigation website.
According to the affidavit, Garcia told police that she had arrived at the home in a truck for a vehicle swap. During the exchange, the couple argued, the document said.
As she reached into the vehicle to remove items that she had brought for her and her son, she alleged that Abarca threw her to the ground. Garcia provided police with “a cell phone video that showed her retrieving her items from the truck when she is spun around to the ground (in the video MANUEL denies throwing her to the ground),” the affidavit said.
Abarca was not at the house when police arrived about an hour later.
When they spoke with him later, Abarca said he didn’t realize that his wife had intended to take their child with her during the vehicle exchange. As she was removing their belongings from the truck, Abarca said “he pulled ‘her purse back to get her out of the truck and that’s when she rolls backwards into the yard,’“ the affidavit said.
After filing for the protective order that granted her custody of the boy, Garcia went on Facebook to say she had not seen her son since the day before the argument. She pleaded on Facebook for the return of her son.
Abarca handed him over to her four days later and was cited by the Kansas City prosecutor’s office with violating the protective order.
Abarca is serving his first term representing the 1st District on the Jackson County Legislature.
This story was originally published June 16, 2025 at 11:24 AM.
