Brian Anthony Williams was arrested in Mission Beach after authorities said he spent nearly 14 years living under an assumed identity.
SAN DIEGO, CA — Federal marshals arrested a 50-year-old man working as a San Diego chef after authorities said he spent nearly 14 years evading prosecution in connection with a kidnapping and assault case in Iowa while living under another name.
Brian Anthony Williams was taken into custody Oct. 6 in San Diego’s Mission Beach neighborhood, according to the U.S. Marshals Service. Authorities said Williams had been living as “Troy Williams” and working as a chef. He remained in federal custody pending extradition to Iowa, where he faces charges stemming from a 2012 case in Davenport.
Williams was charged in Scott County, Iowa, on Oct. 26, 2012, with first-degree kidnapping, willful injury causing serious injury, conspiracy to commit a felony and first-degree arson, according to federal authorities and Scott County warrant records. The charges relate to an Oct. 8, 2012, incident in which Williams and other alleged co-conspirators are accused of kidnapping and assaulting a woman before she was shot and left in a field in northwest Davenport. The allegations have not been proven in court.
The U.S. Marshals Service said Williams later fled Iowa rather than face prosecution. In 2013, he was charged federally with unlawful flight to avoid prosecution. His name and photograph appeared on fugitive listings as law enforcement agencies continued looking for him over the following years.
The investigation took a major turn in September 2026, when marshals developed information indicating Williams could be living in San Diego under the name Troy Williams. Investigators then found appearances in local publications and television reports involving a chef using that name, according to the Marshals Service. Those public appearances became part of the investigation that authorities used to locate Williams.
Williams had established a visible presence in San Diego’s restaurant community. NBC 7 San Diego reported that he had worked at Miss B’s Coconut Club in Mission Beach for about a decade and had eventually become its head chef. The restaurant sits along Mission Boulevard, near the area where federal agents arrested him.
His public profile extended beyond the restaurant. In February, Times of San Diego published a Black History Month feature about a chef identified as Troy Williams. In that interview, he discussed growing up in New York’s Queensbridge housing development and described the experiences he said shaped his path into the restaurant industry. At the time, the report presented him as an established San Diego chef and did not identify him as a wanted man.
Authorities said marshals from San Diego went to the 3700 block of Mission Boulevard on Oct. 6 and found Williams inside a business. He was arrested without incident. The arrest ended a search that had lasted almost 14 years from the filing of the Iowa charges.
The arrest also surprised people who had worked alongside Williams in San Diego. Miss B’s Coconut Club General Manager Eddie Jurado told NBC 7 that employees knew Williams as Troy and had worked with him for years. Jurado said he had even lived with Williams for a period and was shocked to learn that authorities identified him as Brian Anthony Williams. Restaurant employees were also thinking about the woman at the center of the Iowa case, Jurado told the station.
Scott County records listed Williams’ warrant as a detainer following his arrest. The county records identify the outstanding state charges but also caution that a warrant is an accusation and does not establish guilt. Williams is presumed innocent unless proved guilty in court.
The U.S. Marshals Service said Williams will remain in its custody while extradition proceedings move forward. Authorities had not announced a date for his return to Iowa as of Thursday, and the next court proceedings in the underlying case had not been publicly confirmed.
Author note: Last updated October 8, 2026.