HOUSTON – A chef who catered parties for U.S. presidents and cooked meals for a "who's who" of Hollywood has been arrested by U.S. deputy marshals in Houston for tax evasion.
"We've been looking for him for four or five days and he's kind of been moving around a lot," Deputy U.S. Marshall Cameron Welch said.
Wendell Price, 43, was wanted on at least three felony warrants related to falsification of tax records and theft.
Deputy Marshals found him at a female friend's home in northwest Harris County.
Welch told Local 2 Investigator Joel Eisenbaum that Price did not cause any trouble.
"He actually said he was making arrangements to get back to Memphis. We just told we could help him with that," Welch said.
Tennessee authorities contend Price and the co-owner of a now-closed restaurant in Memphis charged tens of thousands of dollars of sales tax but did not forward the money to the government.
Price was arrested on similar charges in 2009.
Known as Chef Wendell, Price starred on a Food Network cooking show in 2003.
Price grew up in Houston and owned a restaurant near downtown with track star Carl Lewis. He also opened a restaurant with Denzel Washington. He has catered for former President Bill Clinton and cooked meals for several celebrities, including Wesley Snipes, who also had well-publicized tax trouble.