A Davis cafe owner accused of sexually assaulting a woman inside his downtown business will appear in court Wednesday to seek a reduction in his bail.
Ashot Manukyan, 58, was arrested last week on a warrant charging him with three felonies — penetration with a foreign object, assault with intent to commit penetration with a foreign object and false imprisonment — as well as misdemeanor sexual battery, according to the Yolo County District Attorney’s Office.
The owner of Cafe Mediterranee, 113 D St., is being held at the Yolo County Jail in lieu of $250,000 bail, a jail spokeswoman said Monday.
Manukyan’s attorney, James Granucci, could not be reached for comment.
Steve Pierce, assistant chief of the Davis Police Department, said Manukyan’s arrest stems from an alleged assault that was reported on Feb. 1 by a 22-year-old woman.
The woman told police that “there was some kind of sexual assault that occurred on the (cafe) property” the night before, Pierce said. “It occurred in an office.”
Pierce declined to release additional information about the alleged incident, including whether the woman was an employee of the business. She did not require medical attention, he said.
Detectives conducted a two-week investigation in the case, then forwarded the case to the District Attorney’s Office, which issued a warrant for Manukyan’s arrest on May 9, Pierce said. Officers arrested him two days later at the D Street cafe.
A bail hearing for Manukyan, who was arraigned Friday, is scheduled for 8:30 a.m. Wednesday in Yolo Superior Court.
— Reach Lauren Keene at [email protected] or (530) 747-8048. Follow her at www.twitter.com/laurenkeene