When Child Stars go Bad - Family Ties Edition

Were Michael Gross and Meredith Baxter Birney not good enough parents? Did the pressure of being Alex P. Keaton's kid brother just become too much? Did he have a secret crush on Skippy, the affable but dense neighbor? Whatever the reason, it appears that the kid from Family Ties, Brian Bonsall, has joined the ever growing lists of child actors who peaked way too soon and found themselves on the wrong side of the law. From popcandy, a truly great pop culture blog from USA Today:

Remember cute Andy Keaton on Family Ties? Well, the actor who played him, Brian Bonsall, now 25, was arrested in Colorado last week on suspicion of domestic violence. Police say Bonsall allegedly "poured an alcoholic beverage on (his girlfriend) while she was sleeping and, when she tried to leave their apartment, he put her in a chokehold and threw her down on the bed multiple times." As you'll see from the mugshot, Brian has acquired at least one neck tattoo and a couple lip piercings since we last spotted him.

These days, Bonsall spends much of his time playing in a punk band called Thruster -- and yes, they do have a MySpace page. Over on his personal MySpace page, Bonsall describes his occupation as "alcoholic," names The Goonies and Seinfeld as favorites and shows off a pair of his tattoos that read "Guns" and "Ammo."

You know, this year would be the 25th anniversary of Family Ties. Now more than ever, I'm really hoping for a reunion.

Here is the young version and the older, current version of Brian Bonsall: