An undercover Montgomery County police detective bought four handguns from a Montgomery College student outside the Bethesda Metro station during four sting operations earlier this year, police confirmed.
The guns were sold by David Bonett, a 22-year-old Mount Airy man who was arrested on gun-related charges April 28, authorities said in documents filed in Greenbelt’s federal court. The documents were recently filed so authorities could obtain a search warrant of the house on Detrick Road where Bonett lives with his parents. His mother answered the phone and said neither she nor her son would talk about the case.
A Montgomery County police spokeswoman confirmed the detective’s role but would not comment further on an open investigation.
The undercover detective called Bonett in January to discuss buying a gun, according to court documents, although they don’t explain how the detective obtained Bonett’s phone number. Bonett asked the detective to meet him at the Bethesda Metro station on Jan. 25.
At the appointed time, 2:30 p.m., Bonett emerged from the station and got into the passenger seat of the detective’s car, documents said. Inside, he sold the detective a silver 9 mm semiautomatic for $800. The detective asked Bonett about buying a gun with a darker color, and Bonett reportedly said he had a “connection” who sells him four or five firearms at a time and that he could order any type. Bonett then got out and went back into the Metro station.
The two spoke on the phone again in March, authorities said. The detective asked about buying another gun, and they reportedly met on March 10 at 10 p.m., again outside the Bethesda Metro station. The detective bought a black 9 mm, semiautomatic pistol for $800. On March 16, they met again at the Metro station, this time at 7:25 p.m., and the detective bought a 9mm, semi-automatic for $750, authorities said.
Their final meeting, court documents said, was on April 15. Authorities followed Bonett as he drove from Montgomery College, where he is a student, to the Bethesda Metro station. Once there, he met with the detective and allegedly sold him a .40-caliber, semiautomatic pistol for $900.
