PICS: 18-wheeler ploughs into (in)famous brothel

In this photo provided by Moonlite BunnyRanch owner Dennis Hof shows a semi-truck crashed through the front gates and the front door of the Moonlite BunnyRanch, the famed Nevada brothel near Carson, Nevada. Picture: Dennis Hof/Moonlite BunnyRanch via AP

In this photo provided by Moonlite BunnyRanch owner Dennis Hof shows a semi-truck crashed through the front gates and the front door of the Moonlite BunnyRanch, the famed Nevada brothel near Carson, Nevada. Picture: Dennis Hof/Moonlite BunnyRanch via AP

Published May 26, 2017

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Washington – Jenny Jade was sleeping early Thursday morning when the walls of the Carson City brothel where she works started to violently shake.

"It sounded like a bomb went off in here," Jade told ABC affiliate KOLO 8.

Just a few feet away, a stolen 18-wheeler had plowed through the gate of the famed Moonlite Bunny Ranch in Nevada and into the brothel's front door, causing "extensive damage," according to the Lyon County Sheriff's Office.

Behind the wheel was Brian Brandt, according to authorities, a 40-year-old man from Reno, Nevada, who was arrested and charged with assault with a deadly weapon, destruction of property and possession of stolen property.

As of Thursday, he was being held at the Lyon County Detention Facility.

A semi-truck crashed through the front gates and the front door of the Moonlite BunnyRanch, the famed Nevada brothel featured in the CatHouse reality television show near Carson, Nevada. Picture: Dennis Hof/Moonlite BunnyRanch via AP

Brothel owner Dennis Hof told the Association Press that none of the business's five employees, 30 female prostitutes and 10 customers inside were hurt during the crash, which occurred just after 4 a.m.

In tweets after the incident, Hof said that the women were "fine" and "pouring free cocktails."

The driver of the truck was wearing full body armor and a mask, Hof said. Nobody at the brothel knew the man, reported the AP.

"It was like a sonic boom," Hof told News 4, describing the crash.

Hof said the truck was filled with Amazon packages.

His brothel gained widespread notoriety after it was featured in the CatHouse reality television show, which followed the lives of the women at the Bunny Ranch.

The Lyon County Sheriff's Office says a man intentionally crashed into the one-story Moonlite BunnyRanch. Picture: Dennis Hof/Moonlite BunnyRanch via AP

The truck, which had a bright yellow cab, was stolen hours before the crash from a northern Nevada terminal for Central Transport, a Michigan-based trucking company, company spokesman Mickey Blashfield told the AP.

Brandt was a trucker with the company and had been fired in recent months for what Blashfield described as inappropriate behavior.

Authorities have not revealed a motive, but News 4 reported that the station received a call from a man who identified himself as Brian Brandt in early May. The man on the call was upset, the TV station reported, and claimed that 20 years ago he had a bad experience at the Bunny Ranch.

Hof told the station he doesn't remember meeting Brandt, and offered his own theory.

"My guess is that it would be worldwide news," Hof said. "He thought if he drove his truck into a brothel full of 35 hot girls it would be worldwide news."

The Washington Post

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