Three investigations into sexual assault allegations against the celebrity chef Mario Batali have been closed because detectives could not find enough evidence to make an arrest, a New York Police Department official said Tuesday.

Three women had come forward to report that Mr. Batali sexually assaulted them years earlier at two Manhattan restaurants where he was an owner or an investor. In all three cases, the victims said they had been drinking and could not fully remember what happened.

[Read more about how the allegations have affected Mario Batali’s restaurant empire.]

Charges could not be brought in two of the cases because they were beyond the New York State statute of limitations, which was lifted in 2006 but not made retroactive. Those investigations were closed last summer, according to the official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because the official is not authorized to discuss the cases.

Prosecutors could not bring charges in the third case because cold-case detectives in the Special Victims Division could not find enough evidence to prove that a crime had occurred. That case was closed in August, the official said.