St. Paul man shot, wounded by police charged with assault

The St. Paul man shot and wounded by police on Sunday struck a woman with a baseball bat a few days earlier, threw a flashlight at her and then taunted her to call the authorities, according to charges.

Reginald C. Sutherlin, 53, was charged Thursday in Ramsey County District Court with second-degree assault and interfering with an emergency call in the July 24 incident. Sutherlin was shot by police on Sunday, when, according to police, he drove a vehicle at an officer near N. Earl Street and E. Geranium Avenue.

According to the complaint:

He assaulted a woman and then yelled, "Are you gonna call the police?! I dare you! I dare you!"

The woman, 44, told police that Sutherlin was an acquaintance and that she was letting him stay overnight at her home in St. Paul on July 23. He left on July 24 but returned. The woman, her friend and Sutherlin were watching TV when Sutherlin "suddenly, without provocation or warning, said, '[Expletive], I'm going to get you!' "

Sutherlin jumped up. Confused and alarmed, the woman grabbed her cellphone.

"What?! Are you gonna call the police?!" he said, according to the complaint.

He allegedly threw a flashlight at her, but it did not strike her.

Sutherlin grabbed a box containing the woman's DVDs, her speakers and two of her cellphones as he fled the house.

The woman chased him as he ran to a car outside, prompting him to dare her to call the police, the complaint said.

Sutherlin handed the items to someone sitting in his car and threw the woman to the ground, causing her to drop her phone, according to the complaint.

Sutherlin was charged in Ramsey County District Court earlier this week with two counts of aggravated stalking, two counts of terroristic threats and felony domestic assault for a separate incident involving his ex-girlfriend.

Sutherlin, who was wounded in the lower torso, was wanted for the domestic assault case and an active warrant. Farrington was not injured.