The owner of a Gaslamp Quarter restaurant arrested last week on suspicion of sex crimes against two women at the downtown business pleaded not guilty Monday to sexual battery and indecent exposure charges.
Geoffrey Enrico Cole, 41, was taken into custody last Monday for alleged sex crimes against two women at his former restaurant Chefs SD.
Police say the alleged crimes occurred on May 27, 2023, and the victims reported the incidents to police three days later.
Cole is charged with two felony sexual battery counts, one misdemeanor sexual battery count and one misdemeanor count of indecent exposure. He remains out of custody on $70,000 bail and is due back in court in June.
He was arrested not long after a ribbon cutting ceremony for the grand opening of his new downtown restaurant, Brunch After Dark or BAD.
In a statement posted last week to his Instagram page, Cole professed his innocence and denied knowing anything about the allegations.
“I don’t know any of the details for any of the crimes that I am accused of,” he wrote. “I don’t know who the alleged victims are either. I will pause all current business ventures in the city of San Diego until further notice.”
