Charges: Twin Cities chef threatened girlfriend with gun, choked her

A Twin Cities chef has been charged with threats of violence after reportedly choking his girlfriend and threatening her with a gun.

If convicted, Justin Michael Anthony Sutherland, 39, faces five years in prison, a $10,000 fine, or both.

According to a criminal complaint, St. Paul officers responded to a call about a man with a gun on the 800 block of Front Avenue just after 8 p.m. on Friday. The caller said he saw a man with a gun enter a vacant building and a woman, who appeared to be in distress, standing outside with her hands up.

A second 911 caller said she was Facetiming her sister and her sister said that her boyfriend was trying to kill her and had put his hands around her neck earlier.

Arriving officers arrested Sutherland outside the building.

One of Sutherland’s long-time friends said Sutherland and the woman had been in a relationship for the past year. The two had moved into a nearby apartment, as Sutherland was planning to turn the vacant building into a restaurant. The friend said Sutherland and his girlfriend’s relationship is rocky and that there are issues when they fight, according to court documents.

The friend said Sutherland texted him that he and his girlfriend had a fight earlier that day. While the friend was on his way to help, Sutherland reportedly called him and said that his girlfriend went to the “racist neighbor” about him and added something to the effect of “If I need to get my guns, I will.” The friend told Sutherland not to do anything with his guns.

The friend said that when he got to the apartment, Sutherland and the woman were screaming at each other and he had to physically push them apart. Sutherland then went outside to take a walk.

The friend said he saw a closed handgun case on Sutherland’s bed, but denied seeing him with a gun, court documents state.

When police met with Sutherland’s girlfriend, she told them that they fought because he said they were no longer going to a music festival. She said he was upset about the neighbors being racist toward him and believed he took his anger out on her.

While on the phone with her sister, Sutherland began to choke her, took the phone and slammed it against the counter multiple times, court documents state.

The woman said she then went to the neighbors’ house to use their phone, and Sutherland stood in the doorway and told her that if she tried to come back to the apartment he would shoot her. According to court documents, when she came back, Sutherland hit her in the chest with the gun.

Sutherland’s friend got to the apartment and took the gun away from Sutherland. Sutherland repeatedly told the woman that he wished she was dead, court documents state.

While executing a search warrant at the home, police found two guns — one of which seemed to have blood on it. The complaint notes that Sutherland had blood on his hands when he was arrested.

In an interview with police, Sutherland’s girlfriend reported ongoing verbal abuse and said Sutherland broke her windshield two days earlier.

At the jail, Sutherland asked what he was being charged with. When he was told that he was being held on charges of threats of violence, he said it was a lie and requested a lawyer, according to court documents.

The criminal complaint notes that police responded to the same address earlier in the day. Sutherland’s girlfriend had called 911 and said he had choked her and tried to kick her out of the apartment.

The woman at the time had refused to provide her boyfriend’s name because she didn’t want to get anyone in trouble.

Officers who responded to this incident spoke with the woman who said Sutherland pushed her, but that she was fine and didn’t need police assistance. Sutherland also said there was a verbal disagreement and that everything was fine.

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