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Masked clown robber used 3D-printed 'ghost gun' in Garden City robberies
Police say the gun that the suspect, 33-year-old Brendan Bonner, was using was 3D-printed, but it works just like the real thing.
GARDEN CITY, Mich. (FOX 2) - What does a sex shop, McDonald's and a Shell gas station all have in common? The answer - they were all held up by a serial armed robber in a creepy clown mask.
This clown terrorized Garden City store clerks at gunpoint before finally being arrested on Sunday morning. Police say the gun that the suspect, 33-year-old Brendan Bonner, was using was 3-D printed, but works just like the real thing.
"We believe he bought the weapon online, bought the parts, assembled it himself, and put it together himself," said Det. Lt. Micah Hull. "It's commonly referred to as a 'ghost gun' because there is no serial number."
The ghost gun, untraceable – and veteran police officers like Hull say they’re seeing them more and more.
"It's obviously worrisome, because we don't know where those weapons come from," he said. "And just the magnitude that they can come out."
On Sunday morning – Garden City police officers responded to call from a McDonald's on Ford Road he had allegedly hit before.
"We received another 911 call indicating there was another armed robbery at the Shell gas station," Hull said.
Bonner allegedly told the gas station clerk, '30 seconds or I’ll start shooting.'
Police say Bonner made off with $1,000 but not for long. The clown mask made it easy for police to quickly move in on him with all the evidence and arrest him. The case was then sent to federal investigators.
"A firearm, a mask and the money," Hull said of the evidence.
The suspect started Sunday morning at 12:47 a.m. at Intimate Ideas in Westland. He shoved the gun in the 21-year-old woman’s face – said he wouldn’t hurt her if she handed over the cash.
He stole more than $400, then went to the McDonald's down Ford Road.
"The employees working there fled out the back of the store, and he chased them outside and individually robbed them as well," Hull said.
Bonner allegedly told his roommate in Westland – that he was going out to rob, before he left - and even washed some of the money for fingerprints.
"Definitely somebody you want to get off the street," Hull said.
The reason he was federally charged instead of locally – it’s because Westland police have an officer embedded on a taskforce with federal ties.