‘The Bachelorette’: Devin Strader’s Ex-Girlfriend Once Got A Restraining Order Against Him After He Burglarized Her Apartment

The Bachelorette finalist Devin Strader has made an enemy out of Bachelor Nation since he broke off his engagement to Jenn Tran and aired out their dirty laundry on social media. And now, resurfaced legal documents reveal troubling details about Strader’s past.

According to an arrest warrant affidavit obtained by Entertainment Weekly, Strader’s ex-girlfriend got a restraining order against him in 2017 after he allegedly burglarized her apartment.

The ex-girlfriend, who is unnamed in the legal documents, states in the affidavit that she had recently returned home to her Louisiana apartment from a trip when she noticed her home had been “burglarized” and a diamond necklace gifted to her by Strader was missing. Strader reportedly lived two doors down from her at the time after their breakup.

He was ultimately arrested on burglary charges. Strader plead guilty on charges of criminal trespass and simple criminal damage to property and received one year of unsupervised probation.

An inside source “close to production” told EW, “We take the safety of our contestants very seriously and make every effort to conduct thorough diligence. As exhaustive as our vetting process is, this protective order did not surface in our searches.”

---

UPDATED 9/19/24: Strader released a statement regarding the news, calling it a “misrepresentation” of a “low point in my past.” He also apologized to Tran for the video he released on social media.

“Following my time on The Bachelorette, there have been many stories and misrepresentations put out in the media that I want to take a moment to address,” he said in a statement shared with Decider. “I want to apologize for the video I released following the final episode. I am not proud of that lapse in judgment. I am truly grateful for my time on the show, and for getting the chance to know and love Jenn. I certainly regret hurting her in any way. She is a very special person, and I wish her nothing but good things.”

Strader’s statement continues, “Most recently, there have been challenges from a low point in my past that have been brought up and severely misconstrued. The accusations are simply not true as I have never inappropriately laid hands on another individual or treated my ex-girlfriend in any of the ways I have been depicted. That restraining order was never granted, and fully dismissed. My college ex-girlfriend and I ended up reconciling and eventually ended our relationship on good terms. This was the first time I ever fell in love and I learned a lot from our relationship. It was a growing experience for both of us.”

“I know that I have made mistakes in my life and that I am not perfect, but I have continued to work every day to be someone that my family and friends would be proud of, and I am truly thankful to everyone who has been by my side.”

---

The ex-girlfriend filed a restraining order after Strader allegedly came to her house “banging on the door several times and screaming at her.” The document went on to detail multiple ways in which Strader allegedly harassed her at her home after the breakup, including one incident in which he was accused of setting the restraining order on fire in the street.

“Later that evening, [Strader] made a fire out in the street with what appeared to be the actual restraining order,” the affidavit alleges. “She also had a tire flattened in her vehicle and when it was getting changed, [Strader] came outside and began laughing at her.”

EW also obtained the Petition for Protection From Abuse that she filed in March 2017 in which a handwritten account claims Strader “spit on me and threw his drink on me at Pelicans game in front of everyone in the crowd,” and “put me in a chokehold covering my mouth.”

This troubling news comes after Reality Steve also reported on Strader’s criminal past.

Tran, who is gearing up for her season on Dancing With The Stars, said she is “still trying to heal” after Strader called off their engagement and dropped a 13-minute video featuring intimate text messages they shared.

In the video, Strader claimed “there’s a lot of false narratives being pushed” on The Bachelorette.

He later deleted, edited, and reposted the video after catching flack for sharing some of their private text messages. He later issued an apology noting his only intention was “to show the relationship from my perspective.”

If you or someone you know is a victim of domestic abuse, help is available. Call the National Domestic Violence Hotline 24 hours a day, 7 days a week at 800-799-7233, or text START to 88788.

This article has been updated to include a statement from Strader.