Joyride Brewing operates at the corner of Sheridan Boulevard and 25th Avenue in Edgewater. (Courtesy Joyride Brewing via The Denver Post)
Joyride Brewing in Edgewater, which filed for bankruptcy last month, is suing a co-owner for allegedly stealing and misappropriating more than $1 million in company cash.
The brewery, which has occupied 2501 Sheridan Blvd. since 2014, announced Nov. 17 that it had been forced to file for Chapter 11 “due to suspected financial malfeasance.”
“This has nothing to do with Joyride’s ability to run a successful or profitable business but rather has everything to do with the improper and unauthorized spending, as well as financial mismanagement, of that former manager,” co-founder Dave Bergen said then.
Bergen did not name the manager at that time. But on Friday, the brewery sued Grant Babb, a former general manager who owns 20 percent of Joyride. Babb also co-owns Herman’s Hideaway on South Broadway and the proposed Live Slow Brewing in Wheat Ridge.
Friday’s lawsuit, filed in Jefferson County District Court, claims that Babb “had near unfettered access to and control of Joyride’s finances” as general manager at Joyride and used it “to pay bills, debts and other monies” to Herman’s and Live Slow, his other companies.
“Joyride continues to perform a forensic analysis of its financial records to gain a better understanding of the total amount that Babb misappropriated and damaged Joyride, but it is believed to be in excess of $1,000,000,” the brewery’s lawsuit states.
Live Slow Brewing co-owners Grant Babb, left, and Joe Malouff. (BusinessDen file photo)
Joyride alleges that Babb “wrote hundreds of thousands of dollars” in checks from Joyride to himself and his companies in 2022 and 2023; similarly “made hundreds of thousands of dollars” in Venmo and credit card payments to himself and his companies; and took out business loans in November 2022, May and August that saddled Joyride with $420,000 in debt.
Babb resigned as general manager on Oct. 20, according to the lawsuit, but remains a 20-percent owner. He did not answer BusinessDen’s phone calls and voicemails. Babb ran for mayor of Edgewater, a small town just west of Sloan’s Lake, in 2017 and came in third.
Joyride is suing Babb and Herman’s Hideaway — which it accuses of keeping money that “had been stolen by Babb from Joyride” — for theft and for taking part in a conspiracy.
“Defendants had a meeting of the minds and determined that Babb, exploiting his authority within Joyride, could funnel Joyride’s money to Herman’s,” Joyride alleges.
The brewery’s lawyers are Patrick Vellone and Jeremy Jonsen with Allen Vellone Wolf Helfrich & Factor in Denver. They declined to comment beyond what is in the lawsuit.
Joyride, meanwhile, has said that its 23 employees will remain employed while the brewery reorganizes under Chapter 11 and works to emerge from its bankruptcy.
“These next few months are going to be challenging and we request your patience and understanding while we go through this transition,” Bergen said in his mid-November Facebook message to customers. “We humbly ask that you come out and support us.”
Joyride Brewing operates at the corner of Sheridan Boulevard and 25th Avenue in Edgewater. (Courtesy Joyride Brewing via The Denver Post)
Joyride Brewing in Edgewater, which filed for bankruptcy last month, is suing a co-owner for allegedly stealing and misappropriating more than $1 million in company cash.
The brewery, which has occupied 2501 Sheridan Blvd. since 2014, announced Nov. 17 that it had been forced to file for Chapter 11 “due to suspected financial malfeasance.”
“This has nothing to do with Joyride’s ability to run a successful or profitable business but rather has everything to do with the improper and unauthorized spending, as well as financial mismanagement, of that former manager,” co-founder Dave Bergen said then.
Bergen did not name the manager at that time. But on Friday, the brewery sued Grant Babb, a former general manager who owns 20 percent of Joyride. Babb also co-owns Herman’s Hideaway on South Broadway and the proposed Live Slow Brewing in Wheat Ridge.
Friday’s lawsuit, filed in Jefferson County District Court, claims that Babb “had near unfettered access to and control of Joyride’s finances” as general manager at Joyride and used it “to pay bills, debts and other monies” to Herman’s and Live Slow, his other companies.
“Joyride continues to perform a forensic analysis of its financial records to gain a better understanding of the total amount that Babb misappropriated and damaged Joyride, but it is believed to be in excess of $1,000,000,” the brewery’s lawsuit states.
Live Slow Brewing co-owners Grant Babb, left, and Joe Malouff. (BusinessDen file photo)
Joyride alleges that Babb “wrote hundreds of thousands of dollars” in checks from Joyride to himself and his companies in 2022 and 2023; similarly “made hundreds of thousands of dollars” in Venmo and credit card payments to himself and his companies; and took out business loans in November 2022, May and August that saddled Joyride with $420,000 in debt.
Babb resigned as general manager on Oct. 20, according to the lawsuit, but remains a 20-percent owner. He did not answer BusinessDen’s phone calls and voicemails. Babb ran for mayor of Edgewater, a small town just west of Sloan’s Lake, in 2017 and came in third.
Joyride is suing Babb and Herman’s Hideaway — which it accuses of keeping money that “had been stolen by Babb from Joyride” — for theft and for taking part in a conspiracy.
“Defendants had a meeting of the minds and determined that Babb, exploiting his authority within Joyride, could funnel Joyride’s money to Herman’s,” Joyride alleges.
The brewery’s lawyers are Patrick Vellone and Jeremy Jonsen with Allen Vellone Wolf Helfrich & Factor in Denver. They declined to comment beyond what is in the lawsuit.
Joyride, meanwhile, has said that its 23 employees will remain employed while the brewery reorganizes under Chapter 11 and works to emerge from its bankruptcy.
“These next few months are going to be challenging and we request your patience and understanding while we go through this transition,” Bergen said in his mid-November Facebook message to customers. “We humbly ask that you come out and support us.”
