Denver police arrested businessman Jay Bianchi this week on suspicion of sexual assault and unlawful sexual contact three years after women in Colorado’s music scene came forward with allegations against the former jam-band bar owner.
Bianchi, 55, was booked into Denver’s Downtown Detention Center on Tuesday on suspicion of six counts of sexual assault and one count of unlawful sexual contact related to three separate cases, according to the Denver Police Department.
Two of the alleged incidents occurred in 2020 and the third happened just last week, according to police.
Bianchi is accused of three counts of sexual assault, all felonies, on Oct. 31, 2020, in the 700 block of East Colfax Avenue; one count of unlawful sexual contact, a misdemeanor, on Nov. 1, 2020, in the 900 block of West First Avenue; and three counts of felony sexual assault on April 7 in the same block on West First Avenue.
The 2020 sexual assault charges are classified separately as “victim helpless,” “overcome will” and “victim incapable,” while the 2024 counts are labeled “victim helpless,” “no consent” and “victim incapable.”
An arrest affidavit detailing the specific allegations against Bianchi was not immediately available Wednesday from the Denver Police Department or the Denver District Attorney’s Office.
In 2021, Bianchi was accused of sexual assault by two women who shared victims’ statements with the Colorado Musician’s Union and later spoke to The Denver Post about their experiences.
The addresses connected to Bianchi’s arrest match the locations of two of his former bars, the now-shuttered Sancho’s Broken Arrow, 741 E. Colfax Ave., and So Many Roads Brewery, 918 W. First Ave.
Bianchi, who remained in custody on Wednesday, denied the allegations when contacted by The Post in 2021.
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He founded Sancho’s Broken Arrow on East Colfax Avenue before selling it in August 2020, and the bar closed permanently after an undercover sting in late 2022. He co-founded So Many Roads with owner Tyler Bishop, which closed in January and was the focus of police stings related to underage alcohol sales and cocaine dealing.
The Denver Police Department in 2021 had confirmed to The Post that detectives had open sexual assault investigations at the addresses of Sancho’s and So Many Roads.
This is a developing story and will be updated.
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