Bianchi has been held on a $250,000 bond at the Downtown Denver Detention Center, incurring numerous charges stemming from incidents that occurred from 2020 to 2024. Judge Clarisse Gonzales ruled that all eight felony charges lodged against Bianchi can proceed, as prosecutors showed probable cause for each count.
Six of the felony charges relate to the sexual assault of two different victims, while the other two felonies are assault in the second degree for allegedly purposefully causing unconsciousness.
One of the sexual assault cases for which Bianchi was booked in April allegedly occurred in October 2020 on the 700 block of East Colfax Avenue, where Sancho’s Broken Arrow 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 other sexual assault cases allegedly took place in the 900 block of First Avenue, where So Many Roads was located before announcing it would close in April. One of those cases was not considered in court on November 12, as the charges in that instance are misdemeanors rather than felonies.
Of the two cases related to drugging only, one allegedly occurred at Sancho's and the other at So Many Roads. Both of those victims came forward after police asked more potential victims of Bianchi's to come forward following his arrest.
Two Denver Police Department detectives took the stand on November 12 to testify that the alleged method of causing unconsciousness at Bianchi's former establishments was drugging drinks.
The alleged victims were referred to under their initials to protect their privacy, but DPD detectives Kari Johnson and Andrew Comeaux provided details into their investigations. In each case, victims reported having a few drinks before experiencing "large memory gaps," according to Comeaux.
Jay Bianchi was arrested in April on multiple charges of sexual misconduct.
Denver Police Department
"The friend describes BU as hysterically crying, difficult to understand, saying something like she had woken up in a basement without her pants on," Johnson said.
The sexual assault felony case that precipitated Bianchi's arrest occurred at Sancho's and followed a similar pattern, but this time a bartender intervened, sending the victim home in a Lyft so that the victim, known as LW, woke up the next morning with no memory of how she got to her apartment.
"She was talking about things that didn't exist in the bar," the bartender reportedly told Comeaux. "She was saying there were clowns, a circus, a spiral staircase and a basement, which all don't exist in the bar, so she was really confused as to what was going on. LW did say that they had sex with the defendant, but she kept saying that it was really scary."
A woman who believes she was drugged at So Many Roads woke up the next morning at Bianchi's home, according to Comeaux's testimony. Bianchi's ex-partner was also at the home at the time, and the pair allegedly told the victim they had saved her from lying in a pile of trash despite her clothes being clean. For that instance, Bianchi is looking at a second-degree assault charge.
All three women reported missing articles of clothing or wearing different clothes than they had worn to start the night.
The only male victim reports being drugged at Sancho's in 2022 after intervening when he spotted a "creepy old man" — later identified as Bianchi — hitting on a woman and tried to intervene. That victim told police that Bianchi sent him a drink as an apology and that he doesn't have many memories after that point. According to Comeaux, the victim's friends found him crying on the curb outside the bar, and he could not remember calling them.
"He said that it felt like he took ten shots in two seconds," Comeaux testified. "He felt like his entire body was relaxing. He felt like his knees were buckling and he couldn't hold on to the drink anymore."
Bianchi maintains that his sexual encounters with the alleged victims were consensual, believing in both instances that the woman encouraged his actions. Additionally, most of the victims reported getting their potentially laced drinks from bartenders rather than Bianchi himself.
"There is no indication from any witness or any testimony that was presented that Mr. Bianchi was an individual who provided any substance to any individual," public defender Reyna Montoya said.
In a preliminary hearing, the judge is required to consider all evidence in the light most favorable to the prosecution, which Gonzales noted before rendering her decision.
Bianchi is scheduled to be arraigned on December 12.
The sexual assault felony case that precipitated Bianchi's arrest occurred at Sancho's and followed a similar pattern, but this time a bartender intervened, sending the victim home in a Lyft so that the victim, known as LW, woke up the next morning with no memory of how she got to her apartment.
"She was talking about things that didn't exist in the bar," the bartender reportedly told Comeaux. "She was saying there were clowns, a circus, a spiral staircase and a basement, which all don't exist in the bar, so she was really confused as to what was going on. LW did say that they had sex with the defendant, but she kept saying that it was really scary."
A woman who believes she was drugged at So Many Roads woke up the next morning at Bianchi's home, according to Comeaux's testimony. Bianchi's ex-partner was also at the home at the time, and the pair allegedly told the victim they had saved her from lying in a pile of trash despite her clothes being clean. For that instance, Bianchi is looking at a second-degree assault charge.
All three women reported missing articles of clothing or wearing different clothes than they had worn to start the night.
The only male victim reports being drugged at Sancho's in 2022 after intervening when he spotted a "creepy old man" — later identified as Bianchi — hitting on a woman and tried to intervene. That victim told police that Bianchi sent him a drink as an apology and that he doesn't have many memories after that point. According to Comeaux, the victim's friends found him crying on the curb outside the bar, and he could not remember calling them.
"He said that it felt like he took ten shots in two seconds," Comeaux testified. "He felt like his entire body was relaxing. He felt like his knees were buckling and he couldn't hold on to the drink anymore."
Bianchi maintains that his sexual encounters with the alleged victims were consensual, believing in both instances that the woman encouraged his actions. Additionally, most of the victims reported getting their potentially laced drinks from bartenders rather than Bianchi himself.
"There is no indication from any witness or any testimony that was presented that Mr. Bianchi was an individual who provided any substance to any individual," public defender Reyna Montoya said.
In a preliminary hearing, the judge is required to consider all evidence in the light most favorable to the prosecution, which Gonzales noted before rendering her decision.
