St. Paul celebrity chef Justin Sutherland arrested for allegedly violating no-contact order

St. Paul police arrested celebrity chef Justin Sutherland on Thursday for allegedly violating a no-contact order, days after he pleaded guilty to threatening his girlfriend with a gun.

Sutherland was booked into the Ramsey County Jail about 3:45 p.m. on suspicion of a gross misdemeanor.

After Sutherland was charged in the June 28 incident with his girlfriend, a judge issued a domestic abuse no-contact order, meaning he was not to have contact with the woman, which is standard in such cases.

On Thursday just after 3 p.m., a woman called 911 and reported a person, identified as Sutherland, was “actively violating a protection order,” said Sgt. Mike Ernster, a St. Paul police spokesman. She said Sutherland was following her around the Target in St. Paul’s Midway area.

The woman left the University Avenue store and went to the nearby Spirit Halloween store and Sutherland continued following her, Ernster said of the woman’s report. Officers arrested Sutherland at the Halloween store.

John Daly, Sutherland’s attorney, said the woman previously requested the protective order be lifted. She stated “she wasn’t afraid of him and wanted contact,” according to Daly.

The woman’s request to have the protective order lifted was noted in court, but the Ramsey County Attorney’s Office opposed it and required it remain in place at least until sentencing in December as part of the plea deal, according to the county attorney’s office.

Sutherland, 40, pleaded guilty Monday to a felony charge of threatening to commit a crime of violence in reckless disregard of the risk. In lieu of a 360-day sentence, the plea agreement calls for two years’ probation, 100 hours of community service, a chemical dependency evaluation and a ban on owning any firearms. Sutherland could have faced up to five years’ imprisonment, per court documents.

Sutherland was arrested on June 28 in St. Paul following the second of two domestic violence-related police calls that evening. According to the criminal complaint, during an argument with his girlfriend, Sutherland strangled her, pointed a gun at her and threatened to kill her.

The St. Paul chef has been featured on “Iron Chef,” “Fast Foodies,” “Top Chef,” “Taste the Culture,” as a judge on several other food-focused TV shows and on talk shows such as “Good Morning America.” He is a Food Network “Iron Chef” winner and season finalist on “Top Chef.” He also is the author of a cookbook, “Northern Soul,” and won an Emmy for “Taste the Culture.”

Earlier this year, Sutherland announced plans to revive Pearl and the Thief in downtown Minneapolis and to partner with the nonprofit Rondo Community Land Trust to reopen the iconic Golden Thyme Coffee and Cafe on Selby Avenue. The status of those plans are unclear.