DENVER – The city of Denver could revoke liquor and cabaret licenses for two Denver bars, Sancho’s Broken Arrow and So Many Roads Brewery, after undercover investigations by police showed employees were allegedly selling drugs like cocaine to people, as well as alcohol to minors.
The Denver Department of Excise and Licenses issued show cause orders on Monday to the owners of the two bars, Tyler Bishop and Timothy Premus. According to the department, Bishop owns two-thirds of Sancho’s Broken Arrow, while Premus owns the other third. Bishop owns 100% of So Many Roads Brewery. The licenses are held through Missing Man Formation LLC and So Many Roads I Know LLC.
Both were previously owned by businessman Jay Bianchi until 2020. The order says the owners must show cause as to why their licenses should not be revoked in hearings set for the morning of June 21. Westword first reported news of the orders Monday morning.
The complaints made against both establishments say employees at both bars served underage and undercover cadets alcohol while either not checking their identification or ignoring they were underage, and that some employees were selling cocaine, MDMA and DMT out of Sancho’s Broken Arrow to patrons at the bar.
Sancho’s Broken Arrow in 2019 settled with the department of excise and licenses after violating requirements to have a private security guard license and selling alcohol to minors, paying a fine of $1,700 in lieu of having to close for four days, according to documents. They also faced investigations and were shut down for violating pandemic-related stay-at-home orders.
This is not the first disciplinary action for Sancho's Broken Arrow. Under a previous owner (Little Prince LLC), there were two settlements in 2019 (see attached below) pic.twitter.com/lD8Ggbgdkm
— CB Cotton (@CB_Cotton) May 23, 2022
Between January 2021 through March 2022, according to the complaint, Denver police officers conducted undercover surveillance and drug purchases at Sancho’s Broken Arrow, which is on Colfax Ave. on the northwest corner of its intersection with Clarkson Street in Capitol Hill.
The complaint from the city says DPD initially received an anonymous tip that employees were selling DMT and cocaine at the bar.
In February 2021, one of the bartenders, Adam Walloch, told undercover officers that Bianchi had transferred ownership of both bars to him and Bishop in 2020 “because the original owners name (Jay Bianchi) was too hot with law enforcement.
That time and during several undercover operations over the next year or so, according to the complaint, officers either watched Walloch or an employee named Steven Ackermann, who said he performed various jobs at the two bars, sell drugs on the back patio, inside the bar, and in the bar bathroom.
Sancho’s Broken Arrow is also accused of operating without a private security guard license but having Ackermann work private security, according to the complaint. It also says that the bar owners knew about the drug dealing at the bar.
Ackermann was arrested in November and charged with three counts of distributing a controlled substance. His court case is still pending, according to court records.
This March, according to the complaint, officers were again able to buy cocaine from Ackermann. On another occasion, they watched someone buy ketamine on the patio, and another minor was able to buy alcohol from a bartender, who told them to get their hand stamped after checking their ID and finding they were not 21.
The complaint for So Many Roads Brewery says minors were also able to buy alcohol there during undercover operations.
Each business faces claims that they violated multiple aspects tied to their licenses, as well as criminal statutes.
Emails and calls made to the owners were not immediately returned on Monday afternoon.
Denver7's CB Cotton contributed to this report.