Planned Monocle restaurant likely dead

Original documents listed sex offender as co-owner

It appears the Monocle restaurant and bar is dead before it even got off the ground.

All signs point to the troubled downtown Phoenix venue as no longer opening. A request to terminate the limited liability company was filed on Monday and is being expedited, according to the Arizona Corporation Commission.

One of the original co-owners, Arthur Bachelier, a sex offender, came under scrutiny after it was discovered he had violated his lifetime parole. He was accused of interfering with his GPS electronic monitoring device and failing to attend and participate in required sex-offender counseling, among other allegations.

On Tuesday, he appeared at a probation revocation arraignment hearing at Maricopa County Superior Court in Phoenix. The next step is a non-witness violation hearing on July 25, when a judge will determine if Bachelier will have his probation revoked.

Bachelier, 32, of Phoenix served just over 21⁄2 years in an Arizona prison beginning in November 2013 after pleading guilty to three charges: sexual abuse, child abuse and sexual conduct with a minor. He was released in June 2015.

At first, Bachelier was listed on a corporation registration document as the co-owner of the Monocle LLC at the 800 block of North Third Street in Phoenix. Reached last week, Bachelier told The Republic the listing of his name on the corporate registration was a “filing error,” and that he was just the chef.

An amendment filed June 12 to the Corporation Commission requested to remove Bachelier as a member and manager of the Monocle LLC. Gerald Lee Logan III remained listed as coowner and would replace Bachelier as as corporation manager. Arizona does not allow felons to receive liquor licenses until five years after their date of conviction.