Former jam-band bar owner and music booker Jay Bianchi has been officially charged with sexual assault and sexual misconduct following three years of allegations, and police believe he may have more victims.
Since officers arrested Bianchi on suspicion of multiple sexual assaults last month, the Denver District Attorney’s Office has charged the long-time bar owner with six felony counts of sexual assault and three misdemeanor counts of unlawful sexual contact, according to a Thursday news release from the Denver Police Department.
The sexual assault charges filed by the District Attorney’s office are classified as “no consent,” “victim incapable,” and “victim helpless,” according to Thursday’s release. Bianchi faces two counts of each classification.
Throughout the ongoing investigation, police received information indicating there may be additional incidents involving Bianchi and victims who have not reported the information to police, police said Thursday.
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.
In 2021, Bianchi was accused of sexual assault by a 24-year-old sound engineer and 25-year-old singer, who said Bianchi drugged and sexually assaulted them during and after a 2020 Halloween party at Sancho’s Broken Arrow.
Three new charges emerged in April of this year, just a week before Bianchi was arrested.
Bianchi is accused of three counts of sexual assault stemming from 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, according to Denver police.
Bianchi, the former co-owner of Sancho’s Broken Arrow and So Many Roads Brewery, and the former owner and operator of multiple Grateful Dead-themed bars, has repeatedly denied allegations of drugging and raping womenover the last three years.
So Many Roads Brewery, cofounded by Bianchi, closed permanently Tuesday following his arrest. The bar has been the site of police stings and assault allegations since shortly after it opened in November 2020.
Sign up to get crime news sent straight to your inbox each day.
