A chef who gained local attention in San Diego for his culinary skills and personal story has been arrested by U.S. Marshals, revealing he was a fugitive from Iowa living under an assumed identity for over a decade. Brian Anthony Williams, 50, known to many as Troy Williams, was taken into custody at Miss B’s Coconut Club in Mission Beach this week. Williams had been the head of the kitchen at the Caribbean restaurant, building a public profile that may have ultimately led to his discovery.
Authorities from the U.S. Marshals Service alleged in a news release that Williams was wanted on multiple outstanding warrants in Iowa. His charges stem from an alleged role in a 2012 kidnapping incident in Davenport, Iowa. The U.S. Marshals Service stated that Williams had been living under an alias for more than ten years to evade prosecution for these charges.
The original incident in October 2012 reportedly involved the kidnapping of a woman, described as Williams's girlfriend, who was later shot in the leg and abandoned in a field. According to local reports from the time, Williams was accused of conspiring with three other individuals to stage his own abduction alongside hers. Following the incident, Williams was charged in Iowa later that year with kidnapping, assault, conspiracy to commit a felony, and first-degree arson. The next year, he faced an additional charge in the Southern District of Iowa for unlawful flight to avoid prosecution in the kidnapping case.
His arrest at the Mission Beach restaurant was carried out "without incident," according to the U.S. Marshals Service. U.S. Marshal Ted Kamatchus of the Southern District of Iowa commented on the arrest, suggesting it exemplified cases where individuals believed they had outsmarted law enforcement and avoided capture. The Marshals Service indicated that Williams’ recent appearances in local publications and television segments likely contributed to his discovery, with authorities learning of his assumed identity and location just last month.
The news came as a shock to his colleagues at Miss B’s Coconut Club. Eddie Jurado, the general manager of the restaurant, expressed his disbelief to NBC San Diego, recounting how deeply integrated Williams had been into the establishment. Jurado noted that Williams had worked there for ten and a half years, running the kitchen for eight or nine of those, and had even been Jurado’s roommate for a period. "This is crazy, we’ve been through it. I’ve been here 10½ years, he’s been here 10½ years," Jurado said, adding, "he’s not even Troy."
Pete Cich, a managing partner for Miss B’s Coconut Club, issued a statement to SanDiegoVille, describing the arrest of the man known as "Troy" as "deeply unsettling." Cich added that their thoughts were with the individuals harmed in the events detailed by authorities. Management at Miss B’s Coconut Club did not immediately respond to a request for comment from The Times.
Williams had previously presented himself as Troy Williams to a reporter earlier this year, sharing a personal narrative of growing up in the projects of New York City and overcoming challenges as a Black man navigating the job market. This feature, published in the Times of San Diego, highlighted his journey from line cook to head chef. The Times of San Diego has since appended an editor’s note to its February feature, acknowledging the U.S. Marshals' allegations that "he had been living under a false identity as Troy Williams."
Williams's extradition to Iowa is currently pending, as stated by the U.S. Marshals Service.