A co-owner of one of Houston's best-known restaurants has admitted in federal court to orchestrating an arson plot against a rival bar. Lyndell Price, a co-owner of the famous Turkey Leg Hut, officially pleaded guilty to his role in a scheme to set fire to the venue. The plea brings a long-running case closer to its conclusion and ties a celebrated name in the Houston food scene to a deliberate act of destruction.
At the center of the case is the burning of a rival bar located on Almeda Road. According to prosecutors, Price did not carry out the fire himself but instead paid a crew to burn down the venue. The arrangement, in which others were recruited and paid to commit the act, formed the basis of the federal case against him.
The motive, as laid out in the case, was rooted in a business dispute. Price moved against the bar after a business partner refused to sell his share of the restaurant. What began as a disagreement over ownership escalated into a plan to destroy a property connected to that partner, turning a commercial conflict into a criminal act.
The bar that was targeted, known as Bar 5015, did not escape the attack unscathed. The venue suffered massive damage from the flames, an outcome that underscored how serious and destructive the plot was. The scale of the damage helped frame the gravity of the charges that followed.
Price was not the only person held responsible for the scheme. Two of the accomplices he had hired are also in custody, reflecting the fact that the plot involved a coordinated group rather than a single individual. Their detention alongside Price points to the collective nature of the operation as described by investigators.
With the guilty plea now entered, the case moves toward its final stage. Price and his two hired accomplices are awaiting formal sentencing, which has been scheduled for September. That hearing will determine the penalties they face for their roles in the arson plot.
The guilty plea represents a significant development in a saga that has drawn attention well beyond the courtroom, given the prominence of the Turkey Leg Hut in Houston. The admission of guilt by one of its co-owners closes a key chapter in the case, even as the question of sentencing remains to be settled in the months ahead.