Former 'Family Ties' actor a fugitive

John Aguilar, Daily Camera

Thursday, July 24, 2008

Brian Bonsall's booking mug shot.

Brian Bonsall's "Family Ties" publicity shot.

BOULDER — 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 — 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 — all conditions for his staying out of prison.

For more coverage from the Daily Camera, click here.

• July 24, 2008

  10:30 p.m.

  Suggest removal

  cedykeman1 writes:

  what a moron

• July 24, 2008

  10:53 p.m.

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  WarrenJimmyBuffett writes:

  This is a prime example why you should keep your young children out of acting.

• July 25, 2008

  6:26 a.m.

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  hdfresh writes:

  Such a innocent looking kid. What happened?

• July 25, 2008

  7:13 a.m.

  Suggest removal

  roger44 writes:

  Acting has nothing to do with kids being idiots, their personal choices do. The actors just get a lot more media coverage.

• July 25, 2008

  7:18 a.m.

  Suggest removal

  HolierThanThou writes:

  He got drunk and hit his girlfriend. That's what happened.

  From the looks of his mug shot, she might have returned the favor.

  Personally, I don't recommend probation for dudes who hit women. If I was a judge, the trip between my courtroom and jail time would be a short one. Domestic violence education probably works better with a captive audience.

• July 25, 2008

  7:36 a.m.

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  LingLingfor_prez writes:

  Oh yes.....Boulder.....

• July 25, 2008

  7:39 a.m.

  Suggest removal

  dlwr writes:

  There needs to be a law that child actors are a ward of the court for a specified time period while they work and a certain time after they are not working. The destruction of lives is absolutely sickening. This is child expoltation at it's worst and for what the sake of entertainment? Use them and though them away. I say sue the hell out of somebody preferrably Disney and make this crap stop.

• July 25, 2008

  7:55 a.m.

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  incognitoboy writes:

  dlwr....

  wow! wards of the court, no less! sure, that's the answer to ALL society's ills! lets just take kids and shuffle them around so they ALL grow up messed up. talk about the destruction of lives...

  and suing disney? HE<< YEAH!! where do i sign up for the class-action festivities?? surely i'm entitled to some compensation for the damage done to me by 'the apple dumpling gang' and 'cinderella'

• July 25, 2008

  8:03 a.m.

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  BlueSled writes:

  These comments are retarded!

• July 25, 2008

  8:08 a.m.

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  cooperjtd writes:

  finally, some humor in the news.

• July 25, 2008

  9:06 a.m.

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  davies writes:

  I was hoping it was the gal who played Mallory. She was so hot, and now if she were a fugitive from Boulder, she could show up on my door step, or maybe I'd pick her up hitchhiking, and she'd say "hide me! I'm yours!"

• July 25, 2008

  9:27 a.m.

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  davies writes:

  "But seriously folks": Just want to distinguish between jail time and prison here. The guy was on probation as an alternative to being sentenced to prison, but that doesn't mean he may not have also already done some jail time. The sentence could have been something like: 30 days or 60 days (or time already served) in the county jail, plus two years of probation in lieu of prison time.

  Now of course he's looking at prison time, but since it's still minor stuff like failure to pay for domestic abuse classes, failed breathalyser tests and such, they may just pick him up, put him back in jail for a few weeks again until another hearing, and give him more probation. It's not that easy to get into prison on minor stuff.

• July 25, 2008

  9:57 a.m.

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  HolierThanThou writes:

  LingLing,

  Have you had your head examined lately?

  Boulder didn't get the dude drunk and start smacking a woman around. Boulder is a city or a county in Colorado, not a person.

  I suspect that a survey might even show that the thousands of people who live in Boulder have different opinions. Whoa! Imagine that!

• July 25, 2008

  10:06 a.m.

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  Cowboy63 writes:

  Another Loser's life goes down the tube because he doesn't want to own his own CHOICES.

  You bite it; you chew it.

• July 25, 2008

  10:16 a.m.

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  MsValeriah writes:

  Holier than Thou, thank you! There are lots of times I disagree with you, but I really appreciate your post on this topic. I live in Boulder and I get really tired of all the mean-spirited comments about this town. Not everyone who lives here is a radical leftist or a freak. There are plenty of regular folks here, too. I'm one of them.

  As to this guy, I hope he decides to step up and face the consequences of his actions, and then gets himself some serious help so maybe the rest of his life can go a little better than what he's got going on now. I don't think his being a child actor is a valid excuse for the things he's done.

• July 25, 2008

  10:41 a.m.

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  Conscious writes:

  What do you tell a girl with two black eyes?

  Nothing, you already told her twice.

• July 25, 2008

  2:12 p.m.

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  allseasonsfan writes:

  Seems like there are just as many morons on these blogs then there are on the news. I find myself agreeing with holier on this.
  dlwr: huh? Are you an expert in this area, all childhood actors become rotten as they get older? You might want to check your facts.
  NotChaseB: I sure hope your an independant, religious right nutjobs like you who spew hate and condemnation from your own personal pulpit are as hypocritical as the left wing loonies who think their s**t don't stink and think everyone on the right are evil.

• July 25, 2008

  2:50 p.m.

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  missmilehi writes:

  Tsk tsk...what would Alise and Michael Keaton have to say about all this?

• July 25, 2008

  3:54 p.m.

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  tchoupitoulas writes:

  Wow! That's just wrong.