FBI agents involved in the mistaken traffic stop and shooting of an unarmed Pasadena man March 1 had a photograph of the actual bank robbery suspect they sought and earlier that day had discovered that an air pistol, not a handgun, apparently was used in the holdup, court records show.
Those details, contained in an FBI affidavit in the bank robbery case, could play a central role in the investigations into the shooting of Joseph C. Schultz, as authorities examine how much federal agents knew about the real suspect they were tracking and how dangerous they thought he was.
Schultz, 20, was shot in the face with an M-4 rifle after FBI agents stopped the car his girlfriend was driving that day. In a case of mistaken identity, the agents thought Schultz was the man they sought, but Schultz had no connection to the crime or to the suspect. Schultz, who is expected to survive, remained in fair condition yesterday at the Maryland Shock Trauma Center.
FBI and Anne Arundel County police officials have released few details about the traffic stop and shooting, saying that could hurt continuing federal and local investigations. But the FBI affidavit, connected to the arrest March 3 of bank robbery suspect Michael J. Blottenberger Jr., provides new information about the police search that preceded the shooting.
An FBI spokesman declined yesterday to comment directly on the affidavit, but suggested that whether or not a real semi-automatic handgun was used in the robbery did not diminish the threat that agents believed Blottenberger posed as they searched for him March 1.
"In general terms, anytime anyone robs a bank, and a gun is displayed, they're considered armed and dangerous," said Special Agent Peter A. Gulotta Jr., who said that in assessing how risky a capture might be, agents also consider a suspect's criminal history.
Blottenberger, 32, of Baltimore has a lengthy arrest record and had been released from jail months before an anonymous caller told an Anne Arundel County detective Feb. 26 that Blottenberger could be connected to the robbery Feb. 20 of an Allfirst Bank branch on Fort Smallwood Road in Pasadena, according to the FBI affidavit.
In the document, FBI Special Agent Lawrence S. Brosnan, a 24-year veteran of the FBI and the lead investigator in the robbery case, said two bank tellers reported that the robber brandished a silver-and-black handgun that day as he forced them to empty their cash drawers. Court records say the robber left with $24,324 clutched in his fists and arms and climbed into a green Ford pickup.
