Jay Bianchi Sexual-Assault Hearing Postponed After New Developments

Jay Bianchi, the embattled former owner of three Grateful Dead-inspired bars, still hasn’t had a preliminary hearing for the charges for which he was arrested on April 16.

Bianchi has made numerous appearances in Denver County Court for his arrest on sexual-assault allegations, but the only action taken has been waiving his right to a hearing within 35 days. Bianchi was arrested in connection with three separate cases related to sexual misconduct in 2020 and 2024 and has been held at the Downtown Detention Center in April on a $250,000 bond.

On September 10, Bianchi was scheduled to finally have his preliminary hearing, but his public defender, Megan Lee, told Judge Clarisse Gonzales that there were new developments in the last 24 hours that necessitated canceling the hearing. Prosecutor Bree Beasley agreed to postpone the hearing date.

The nature of the developments was not discussed in court. Bianchi is now scheduled to appear in court on October 8 for a status update.

After his arrest, the Denver Police Department put out a call asking for any more people Bianchi may have harmed to come forward.

“Through this ongoing investigation, Denver Police investigators have received information indicating there may have been additional incidents involving Bianchi and victims who have not reported the information to police,” the DPD said in a statement. “Anyone who believes they may have been a victim of Jay Bianchi is encouraged to call the Denver Police Sex Crimes Unit at 720-913-6040.”

The former owner of bar and music venues Sancho’s Broken Arrow, Quixote's True Blue and So Many Roads Brewery has been hit with several more charges since he was originally arrested. At the time of his arrest, he was being held for seven counts — six for sexual assault and one for unlawful sexual contact.

His Denver Sherriff’s Department inmate search page currently lists fourteen offenses. One is for an outstanding traffic warrant, which Bianchi resolved today, September 10, admitting guilt.

The others are all related to sexual assault, unwanted sexual contact or drugging victims. Alleged sexual-assault offenses include overcoming victim’s will, helpless victims and no consent–force/threat, among others.

One of the cases for which Bianchi was booked in April allegedly occurred in October 2020 on the 700 block of East Colfax Avenue, where Sancho’s was located before it was shut down in a settlement with the city in 2022 over liquor-license violations and a public-nuisance complaint related to illegal cocaine dealing by bartenders.

Two of the cases allegedly took place in the 900 block of First Avenue, which is where So Many Roads was located before announcing it would close on April 27.

Alleged victims told the Denver Post in April that they were upset with Denver police over delays in the department's investigation, as two of the alleged assaults happened more than three years before Bianchi was arrested. In 2021, Westword reported on accusations of sexual impropriety by Bianchi. At that point, he had not been contacted by the DPD for an investigation.