Chef Grady Spears arrested on suspicion of assault, records show

Celebrity chef Grady Spears was arrested early Tuesday on suspicion of assault resulting in bodily injury, according to Tarrant County Jail records.

Spears, 49, is being held in jail and bond has not yet been set. The arrest was made at around midnight in the 2700 block of Meadowbrook Drive, according to the Fort Worth Police Department.

Police were sent to Spears' home at around 11:51 p.m. Monday on a report of a domestic disturbance. A woman, 52, later identified as Wendy Mann-Spears, Spears' wife, had bruises on her face and body, police said. She told officers that Spears hit her multiple times, they said.

Spears was arrested without incident.

Trent Loftin, attorney for Spears, said in an email to the Star-Telegram that Spears is "devastated by the allegations against him. He is a loving husband and father."

"I am sure that once all of the evidence is reviewed, he will be exonerated of all charges," he said.

In 2015, Spears, a Fort Worth native, founded the Stockyards-area Horseshoe Hill Cafe, which specializes in varieties of chicken-fried steaks.

He was the first chef at Reata, a restaurant owned by the Micallef family with locations in downtown Fort Worth and Alpine. He left in 2000 and has had a string of other openings, including co-founding Dutch's Legendary Hamburgers near TCU, his own Grady's on Forest Park Boulevard, Line Camp Steakhouse in Tolar and Clear Fork Station in Willow Park. Except for Reata and Dutch's, those restaurants have all closed.

His next project, Graze, a chicken-and-biscuits restaurant, is scheduled to open this year as part of the upcoming Crockett Street Food Hall in west Fort Worth. He has also written several cookbooks.

This story was originally published July 3, 2018 at 2:36 PM with the headline "Chef Grady Spears arrested on suspicion of assault, records show."