Former child actor-turned-fugitive Brian Bonsall, who is wanted by authorities for skipping a court hearing last week, may have been successful in ducking the strong arm of the law â for now.
Bonsall, who most notably starred as Michael J. Fox’s little brother Andy Keaton on the 1980s TV series “Family Ties,” moved out of his home in north Boulder earlier this month.
A lock box hung on the door handle of his unit Thursday at the Aspen Grove condominiums, 2800 Kalmia Ave., and no one answered a knock on the door.
Aspen Grove facilities manager Gary Jones recalled seeing Bonsall moving furniture to a Dumpster at the complex over the Fourth of July weekend. Shortly thereafter, he said, the one-time kid star was gone.
Public records show that Bonsall owns the condo.
Bonsall, 26, failed to appear at a July 16 court hearing in which prosecutors were ready to lay out a case that the 2000 Boulder High School graduate violated his probation stemming from an assault on his girlfriend, Lindsey Dunavan.
Bonsall, who was serving two years probation for the 2007 assault, faced charges that he had failed to pay for domestic-violence classes, missed daily breathalyzer tests and submitted a positive breath test â all conditions for his staying out of prison.
It isn’t known whether Dunavan â who had been living in the condo with Bonsall in March 2007 when police said he put her in a chokehold and threw her on the bed during a party â left the residence with him.
“At this point, he’s essentially at an unknown location for us,” said Sarah Huntley, a spokeswoman for Boulder police.
But she said if police do come across Bonsall at any point â should he still be in town or passing through â “we will arrest him and take him to the jail.”
Carolyn French, a spokeswoman for the Boulder County district attorney, said her office routinely consults with law enforcement agencies elsewhere if it is believed that someone with a warrant out for his or her arrest is living there.
She said Bonsall’s warrant specifies that he be held on a $2,500 bond if apprehended.
Paul McCormick, who represented Bonsall during the assault case, said he didn’t have “any idea” where his former client was.
Bonsall has taken an ignominious fall from grace since his adolescent days in the spotlight, when he starred in “Family Ties,” several episodes of “Star Trek: The Next Generation” and a slew of TV shows and movies, including “Blank Check” and “Mikey.”
The Torrance, Calif., native had his first run-in with Colorado law enforcement in 2001, when he was stopped by police in Boulder County on suspicion of drunk driving.
He was arrested again in Boulder County three years later for the same offense.
Bonsall was a member of the Boulder punk band Thruster for about four years, but the band’s MySpace page claims the group broke up in late 2006 “due to each other’s desire for different parts of the country.”
Run Brain Run…
seemore
7/24/2008 6:57:45 PM
At least he didn’t become a spam king.
rungreger
7/24/2008 7:00:27 PM
WOW!! The Daily Camera really is a joke. Great “newsworthy” article.
Kev
7/24/2008 7:28:17 PM
Hey Kev, if you don’t like it, don’t read it!Maybe some other people besides your self are interested.Maybe you would be better off doing your b#tching in the New York Times, you seem to be too high brow for all us hicks who are curious about child stars gone bad!
I heard Brian might be staying on Hardscrabble Court!
tplboulder@yahoo.com
7/24/2008 7:33:40 PM
Family ties – he ties her up…..
richmorris_colo@yahoo.com
7/24/2008 7:52:27 PM
I’m sure Boulder’s finest are on top of it….
flyfisher64
7/24/2008 8:18:29 PM
“At this point, he’s essentially at an unknown location for us,” said Sarah Huntley, a spokeswoman for Boulder police.
I want to be PAID to be able to say nonsense like that.
VCT
7/24/2008 9:35:29 PM
On the run from Johnny Law…Ain’t no trip to Cleveland.
Ralphie2
7/24/2008 10:48:34 PM
Ralphie2
7/24/2008 10:58:08 PM
I hope they catch him and throw him in the slammer for a while.I had the “pleasure” of meeting this “big hollywood star” probably about 10 years ago when he was a teenager and he is a total d-bag.
ilikeseeyou
7/25/2008 3:59:31 AM
The commentary is pathetic.
meatpieandtatters
7/25/2008 7:00:18 AM
ilikeseeyou: It seems to me that you are the d-bag you loser. Brian is a great person who got caught in a bad situation. And if you don’t know him on a personal level then you shouldn’t be so quick to judge him. And regarding the Boulder “Police Defartment’s” comment, it just shows the level of incompetence they have always had in that department. Boulder police are a bunch of adrenaline for pleasure seeking losers. It is a complete joke that they call themselves officers of the law.
boldin81
7/25/2008 7:27:36 AM
“if police do come across Bonsall at any point â should he still be in town or passing through â ‘we will arrest him and take him to the jail.'”
Most people with warrants out for their arrests live right where they’re listed in the phone book. The cops don’t go after them. Only if they get stopped for something else do they go to jail.
monkeys
7/25/2008 8:31:27 AM
Blank Check = Great movie
yayo
7/25/2008 8:43:05 AM
Are those fangs, or dueling lower-lip piercings?
Seriously, I hope the kid gets a clue, and the help he needs.
inmyriver
7/25/2008 8:49:17 AM
boldin81
“Brian is a great person who got caught in a bad situation”.
Would that situation be the 2001 dui, the 2004 dui, the getting drunk and beating on his girl in 2007, the failure to attend domestic violence classes,the drinking before a breathalyzer or going on the run cause you can’t stay sober or attend a class.
I don’t know who’s a bigger db… bb or you for even trying to defend that 7 year rap sheet.
matthew@cybox.com
7/25/2008 8:56:15 AM
If Brian “missed daily breathalyzer tests,” how could he have tested positive?
Kev, come back and help this paper out!
Spudnik
7/25/2008 9:02:34 AM
thank you matthew, you beat me to the punch.repeat offender, that’s not getting caught in a bad situation, no way, no how.
completely_unoriginal
7/25/2008 9:37:47 AM
Check Skippy’s house.
spankymcgee
7/25/2008 9:49:26 AM
If Boulder’s Finest are on top of it then he’ll never get caught.
strunkdave@yahoo.com
7/25/2008 9:51:00 AM
Regarding Matthew’s comment: Brian is a good person, and he has obviously had his share of run ins with the law. But unless you are aware of all the facts you shouldn’t be so quick to jump to judgment on the guy. He has been my friend since wewere kids and I can tell you, what’s reported in the paper or by the infamously retarded Boulder police department and the truth are two completely different things. More than anything he just needs help and support from those that love him. But I am not denying that he does have quite an eyebrow raising rap sheet. And with regards to him “beating his girlfriend”, what would you do if your girlfriend slashed you in the face with a knife? Besides cry I mean. And since when is throwing a girl on a bed and taking a kitchen knife out of her hand after she has attacked you with it been considered beating??
boldin81
7/25/2008 12:18:10 PM
What a punk. Worf would be so pissed…
Indian_Peaks
7/25/2008 12:26:46 PM
boldin 81:
Those look more like scratch marks than knife cuts. I belive knife slashes may be a little deeper. Is the knife from the scenario that you were told?
woodenfleaeater
7/25/2008 12:46:38 PM
boldin81,
Thanks for reminding me that about how easy it is for the police and press to spin a story. I don’t know whether to believe his version or not, but it certainly does seem to be SOP in domestic incidence to blame the man regardless and downplay any violence on the part of the woman.
That being said, the dui’s, bailing on his court ordered classes and skipping out on court dates is not something that it is appropriate to handle merely by providing “support from those that love him”.
olokun@forethought.net
7/26/2008 2:24:47 PM
Thanks to all the peeps and peepettes that have purchased our Live C.D in the effort to keep poor little Bonz from being internally probed by large men while taking a state issued vacation from freedom.
It’s nice to see that some people actually don’t believe all the venomous vomit that spews from the mouth of the media.
As you may already know The Bonz is on the run, there has been reports of sightings as far away as the himalayas, word on the street is that he may be building a small militia comprising of pigmy lamas and rubber bands. It is thought that he may personally lead an attack upon Perez Hilton and his evil army of gelatin soldiers. Though this could not be confirmed, Perez has yet to comment about the impending conflict, Perez sources failed to reply to any of our calls or messages thrown at his lair within mini booze bottles.
So the drama plays on, all we can do is spectate and buy Thruster C.D’s in the hope that evil will conquer over good, because good is dumb.
$7.00 is all you have to come up with in order to be a part of the revolution, part of the Thruster Army.
You may be one of the lucky little monkeys who will receive a bona-fide “Bonz” autograph on your C.D purchase!.
1 in 10 chances, are the odds we here at the Thruster Army headquarters like to think is better than 1 in 100.
We gotta keep Dog the bounty hunter at bay!!, the world will be a grayer place without The Bonz to enlighten us all in the ancient art of being a drunkard.
Keeping it real,
Thruster
www.myspace.com/Thruster
JesusChrist
7/27/2008 12:11:30 PM
People make mistakes, just some peoples mistakes are published in the media. Why judge something that you only get one side to the story. Be logical, there are alot worse people out there. It is truly none of our buisness.
Kychic21
7/28/2008 8:20:32 AM
At this point, he’s essentially at an unknown location for us,” said Sarah Huntley, a spokeswoman for Boulder police……
What can you say about this statement except there’s our tax dollars at work…
www.ourtownreport.com
ourtownusa
7/28/2008 9:40:49 AM
olokun: I’m not arguing that Bonz does need to stand up and take care of the situation that he has created. But at least it’s refreshing to see that some people understand that not everything the media reports is accurate. And there are two side’s to any story. Fortunately for me I have heard Lindsey’s side as well as Brian’s and they both agree that this has been blown way out of proportion. I have known Brian since we were knee high, and I know that there is no way he could ever abuse a woman.
boldin81
7/28/2008 11:58:06 AM
I’m not saying that what he is doing or has done is right, I agree he needs to accept his consequences for not following the rules and step up. My point is that its really no ones buisness because we werent there. I have always been taught to give people the benefit of the dout. I cant say that I havent deservingly had to be restrained by a boyfriend because I wanted to be tough and fight. Girls get angry real easy, and we lash out. I learned quick that you cant be like that. If you dish it out, you need to learn to take it. I dont know this guy, I really have never been a person for voicing my opinion either. I was just bored at work and stumbled across this article. I have seen first hand what abusing a women is like, and when a situation just gets out of hand. This is not a case of abuse. I think that some females take things a bit far, and can dramatize things. And that is coming from a girl! I think that you all should take a step back, and remember he is only human. Put yourself in that situation; or just leave it be.
Kychic21
7/28/2008 1:05:56 PM
Here the myspace website of his band.
Nice butterfly tat on the Bonz’s neck. WOW!! How Cool!!
http://www.myspace.com/thelightonadamsstereo
It’s painfully obvious, the kid is totally lost.
Brinton
7/28/2008 10:39:23 PM
Keep running Brian!! Love You!!
jbcrash28
11/22/2008 4:22:28 PM
