Kiefer Sutherland’s Hollywood career has been overshadowed at times by his very public run-ins with the law.
His January 2026 arrest for allegedly assaulting a ride-share driver and making criminal threats was the most recent incident in a string of legal issues that the 24 actor has faced over the years. He was arrested multiple times for driving under the influence and ultimately received a 48-day jail sentence in 2007.
“Clearly by the time you’re in [prison] you know you’ve done something really stupid,” he told RTE in January 2022. “You’re humiliated and embarrassed and nothing brings it home more than when that gate begins to screech — it makes an awful noise, and the buzzers start flashing and all the guards are attentive so that nobody ever accidently walked out.”
The actor went on, “It’s awful and everything slows down. It’s like there’s a flashing light above your head that says ‘idiot’ and there is just nothing cool about it.”
Keep scrolling for more about Sutherland’s ups and downs over the years.
Kiefer Sutherland Was Arrested in January 2026 for Allegedly Assaulting a Rideshare Driver
News broke on January 13, 2026, that Kiefer Sutherland was detained by the Los Angeles Police Department on allegations of making a criminal threat and assaulting a rideshare driver.
“On January 12, around 12:15 a.m., officers from the Los Angeles Police Department responded to a radio call regarding an assault involving a ride-share driver near Sunset Boulevard and Fairfax Avenue,” an LAPD statement to Us Weekly read. “The investigation determined that the suspect, later identified as Kiefer Sutherland, entered a ride-share vehicle, physically assaulted the driver (the victim), and made criminal threats toward the victim.”
The police statement confirmed that Sutherland was arrested at the scene for criminal threats, in violation of California Penal Code section 422, which is a felony. Authorities indicated that the alleged victim did not sustain any injuries that required medical treatment at the scene.
Sutherland was released from custody after paying a $50,000 bond and is next due to appear in court on February 2, 2026.
Us has reached out to Sutherland for comment.
Kiefer Sutherland Has Had Multiple DUI Arrests
Kiefer Sutherland has been arrested multiple times for driving under the influence, dating back to 1989. The Lost Boys actor was busted for a DUI and carrying a concealed and loaded weapon that year, though he ultimately agreed to plead guilty to no contest for alcohol-related reckless driving to resolve the matter. (The other charges were eventually dropped, per People.)
In 1993, Sutherland agreed to perform 211 hours of community service after once again pleading no contest to an alcohol-related driving offense. (He had been offered to either complete the community service or serve 12 days behind bars.)
A decade later, Sutherland was sentenced to five years of probation and ordered to complete 500 hours of community service in 2004 for another drunk driving offense.
The 24 actor faced prison time in 2007 when he was detained on suspicion of drunk driving, which was a parole violation. This time, Sutherland was sentenced to 48 days in jail, per The Guardian. (Sutherland reported to the Glendale City Jail on December 5, 2007, and was released in the early hours of January 21, 2008.)
As part of his parole violation, Sutherland agreed to pay a fine and complete an alcohol treatment program. He released a statement at the time apologizing for potential delays on his hit Fox show 24.
“I’m deeply sorry for the disappointment and distress this has caused my family, friends and coworkers on 24 and at 20th Century Fox,” he said. “I appreciate the support and concern that has been extended to me these last weeks both personally and professionally.”
Speaking to Rolling Stone in 2016, Sutherland admitted that he’d “gone to jail a few times in my life for doing some incredibly stupid stuff.”
“I can tell you, the first thing you lose when you walk through those [jail] doors is your dignity,” he said.
Kiefer Sutherland Was Accused of Allegedly Attacking a Designer
Just over a year after his 48-day jail sentence, The New York Times reported that Kiefer Sutherland surrendered to police in 2009 over an alleged altercation with fashion designer Jack McCollough. Following a fundraiser for the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Sutherland allegedly headbutted McCollough at The Mercer Hotel in SoHo.
Sutherland was supposed to answer the allegations in court, but charges were dropped when he released a statement apologizing to McCollough.
“I am sorry about what happened that night and sincerely regret that Mr. McCollough was injured,” Sutherland said at the time.
Kiefer Sutherland Has Addressed His Complex Relationship With Alcohol
Kiefer Sutherland acknowledged in an October 2020 interview with The i Paper that “almost every single negative thing that has happened in my life was as the result of drinking.”
“I didn’t stop [drinking],” he admitted. “So at some point you have to take responsibility for that, and I do.”
Still, Sutherland insisted that he’d never seriously considered giving up alcohol altogether.
“Some of the best times I’ve had have been when out with friends, having drinks, telling stories. That’s me at my happiest,” he said. “But do I want to understand it all better? Yeah. And can I say that there have been times when I have felt on the verge of not having much control? Yes. That’s something I wrestle with. But then I’ve never been late for a day’s work in my life.”
Kiefer Sutherland Nearly Married Julia Roberts
In the early 1990s, Kiefer Sutherland and his Flatliners costar Julia Roberts were one of the hottest couples in Hollywood. They got engaged in August 1990 and were supposed to tie the knot at the 20th Century Fox studio lot on June 14, 1991.
Roberts stunningly called off the wedding days before she and Sutherland were set to exchange vows. Sutherland told Entertainment Weekly in December 2016 that he was grateful that Roberts broke off their engagement.
“I think she was being realistic for herself and I think that’s much better. I think it’s hard to explain the pressure,” he added. “We were young and we were both very much in love and we had decided that we wanted to get married. She was arguably the most famous woman in the world and this wedding that was supposed to be something between the two of us became something so big.”
Sutherland went on, “It wasn’t what she wanted to do in the end and I think it took a lot of courage, in amongst all that other stuff, to be able to say, ‘I can’t do this’. And I’m gonna leave it at that.”
Kiefer Sutherland Has Been Married Twice
Kiefer Sutherland married his first wife, Camelia Kath, on September 12, 1987, when he was 20 and she was 34. Camelia was the former wife of late Chicago guitarist Terry Kath, who died in 1978.
Sutherland became a stepfather to Camelia’s daughter, Michelle Kath, from a previous relationship and the couple welcomed a younger daughter, Sarah Sutherland, in February 1988. Sutherland and his first wife divorced in 1990.
He was later married to Elizabeth Kelly Winn in 1996. They had no children together and separated amicably in 1999. Per NBC’s Today, Sutherland filed for divorce in Los Angeles Superior Court in May 2004.
Since 2014, Sutherland has been in a relationship with Black November and Endgame actress Cindy Vela. They got engaged in 2017.
Kiefer Sutherland’s Daughter Sarah Sutherland Has Pursued Acting
Kiefer Sutherland and his first wife Camelia Kath’s daughter, Sarah Sutherland, made her screen acting debut as Julia Louis-Dreyfus’s onscreen daughter in Veep. (Sarah appeared in 43 episodes of the 17-time Emmy-winning comedy series.)
More recently, she costarred with two-time Oscar winner Hilary Swank in the 2018 drama What They Had and led the 2021 Canadian drama Like a House on Fire.
During a 2016 appearance on The View, Kiefer was asked about Sarah following her famous family’s footsteps. (Kiefer’s parents, Shirley Douglas and Donald Sutherland, were also actors. They died in 2020 and 2024, respectively.)
“I didn’t have angst [about Sarah acting]. My daughter’s incredibly smart,” he declared. “She was a phenomenal student. [She] spoke four languages. She spoke Latin, Greek, just an amazing student. I had great aspirations for her.”
Kiefer said he approached Sarah’s career “very much” like his own mother and father treated his interest in acting.
“When I made the choice to go do this, they really let me find my way,” he recalled. “So, I have had to do the same thing for Sarah. Whether I liked it or not, she was going to go do this. … She’s done this all on her own. I think she’s incredibly talented and I’m really proud of her.”
Kiefer Sutherland Has Achieved Numerous Career Milestones
Throughout his career, Kiefer Sutherland won two Emmys and a Golden Globe for his action series 24. The Fox series also earned Sutherland two Screen Actors Guild Awards. (The SAG Awards are now known as The Actor Awards.)
He received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in December 2008.
“I will be the first one to say it: the irony of [my] star in front of a parking garage is huge,” he joked.
He more seriously told friends and family in attendance at his ceremony, “Thank you from the bottom of my heart for a life that I could not have ever scripted myself.”
