A bitter breakup between the co-owners of Wild Corgi Pub has spilled into Denver District Court, with Sean Maas now accusing his ex-boyfriend and business partner Dusty Jones of stealing an insurance check meant to cover fire damage at their Capitol Hill bar. The countersuit marks the latest escalation in a legal fight that began months earlier, when Maas first asked a judge to dissolve the business entirely.
According to BusinessDen, Maas and Jones are 50/50 partners who opened Wild Corgi Pub at 1223 E. 13th Ave. together in 2018, back when they were also a couple. The two split up in 2022, and Jones is Maas's business partner; their business dispute has now fractured into dueling legal claims. In his countersuit, Maas alleges that Jones oversaw shady accounting practices, locked him out of the business's accounts, and overpaid himself — and now, that Jones improperly took hold of an insurance check issued after a fire at the pub.
A Legal Fight That Started Months Earlier
The insurance dispute is not where this legal saga began. Maas first sued Jones in Denver District Court in May 2026, asking a judge to appoint a receiver to dissolve and wind down Wild Corgi Pub LLC, according to a report from that month cited in regional industry coverage. That earlier filing sought to shut the business down entirely rather than resolve a single financial dispute, signaling that the partnership had already reached an impasse well before the alleged insurance theft surfaced.
Colorado law offers a specific path for partners stuck in exactly this kind of deadlock. Under Colorado law, a district court may order judicial dissolution when it is no longer reasonably practicable to carry on the business in conformity with its operating agreement. Judicial dissolution is considered an equitable remedy, typically reserved for situations where co-owners can no longer function together.
What's at Stake if Theft Is Proven
The stakes tied to the insurance check allegation extend beyond the disputed funds themselves. Colorado's civil theft statute, C.R.S. § 18-4-405, provides for $200 or three times actual damages, whichever is greater, plus court costs and attorney fees. Neither the exact dollar amount of the insurance payout nor the full extent of the fire damage has been detailed in court filings reported so far.
Before Maas and Jones took over the space in 2018, the building at 1223 E. 13th Ave. had a long history in Capitol Hill's nightlife scene. It previously housed the Marion Street Tavern and was long known to locals as Gabor's, a neighborhood dive bar, as the Denver Gazette has reported.
A Pub With a Loyal Following
Wild Corgi Pub built a loyal following well before this legal rupture. The bar takes its name from Jones's mixed corgi and Jack Russell terrier, Winston, whose high-energy puppy antics inspired the venue's name and logo.
A Changing Block in Capitol Hill
The legal battle unfolds as the surrounding block continues to evolve. Just down the street at 1202 E. 13th Ave., a new sapphic bar called Wild Tulips was slated to open near Wild Corgi Pub and Thump Coffee, part of a cluster of independent bars and cafes on the 1200 block of East 13th Avenue that Hoodline covered in reporting on Denver's only sapphic bar. That same coverage noted that Denver's municipal minimum wage reached $19.29 per hour in 2026, with a tipped minimum wage of $16.27 per hour, and described the wage structure as a hurdle for newly launched independent venues in Capitol Hill.
For now, it remains unclear how much money is actually at stake in the insurance check dispute, the full scope of the fire damage that prompted the payout, or whether the Denver District Court will ultimately appoint an independent receiver to manage or liquidate Wild Corgi Pub LLC while the litigation plays out.
