Celebrity chef Justin Sutherland charged with threatening to shoot girlfriend in St. Paul

Celebrity chef Justin Sutherland was charged Monday after his arrest on allegations that he threatened to shoot his former girlfriend last week in St. Paul and hit her with a gun.

Sutherland, 39, was charged in Ramsey County District Court with felony threats of violence in connection with the incident Friday night in the 800 block of Front Avenue shortly after 8 p.m., when police responded to a call about a man with a gun.

The woman told police that Sutherland pointed a gun at her, struck her in the chest with the weapon, the criminal complaint read. Fearing for her life, she put up her hands and pleaded not to be shot.

A hearing was scheduled for Sutherland later Monday morning, when a judge is expected to set bail. Court records do not yet list an attorney for him. He has applied to the judge to have a public defender appointed for him, according to court records.

Officers arrested Sutherland after they “determined a domestic assault and threats of violence occurred,” Police Sgt. Mike Ernster said in a statement over the weekend.

Sutherland was the original executive chef for the Handsome Hog, a southern-style restaurant in St. Paul that opened in 2016. He has severed ties with the eatery but has since opened a breakfast sandwich shop, Big E, on Grand Avenue in St. Paul.

He was also planning to open a new restaurant with his father, Kerry Sutherland, in the former space of the Golden Thyme Cafe in St. Paul’s Rondo neighborhood.

Sutherland has made several appearances on TV, competing on “Top Chef” and winning “Iron Chef America.” He won an Emmy for his web series “Taste the Culture.”