Maryland Community Newspapers Online
A Montgomery County judge on Friday set bail at $20,000 with conditions for a Clarksburg High School teacher charged with robbing a Bethesda pharmacy and a North Bethesda bank.
District Court Judge Barry A. Hamilton agreed to discharge 41-year-old Brendon Fuller Friedman to his parents' custody on the conditions that he wear an electronic monitoring device at all times, receive mental health treatment, adhere to a curfew and enroll in a program at the Kolmac Clinic, which has locations in Gaithersburg and Silver Spring and provides outpatient treatment for adults with alcohol and other drug problems.
Friedman, who appeared in the courtroom via a television screen and wearing a green prison jumpsuit, spoke little and said he understood the conditions of his bail.
Montgomery County Police charged Friedman, of the 5400 block of McGrath Boulevard in North Bethesda, with two counts of armed robbery. They say he robbed a Safeway pharmacy in Bethesda and an M&T Bank in North Bethesda between 3:35 and 5 p.m. Nov 13.
A man wearing a blue surgical mask and black clothes showed a black handgun to a pharmacist at Safeway and handed him a note that read, "You have 30 seconds to give me a bottle of Xanax and OxyContin or a bullet goes in your head!" according to charging documents filed in District Court in Rockville.
The pharmacist gave him a bottle of Xanax and he left.
Shortly later, the North Bethesda M&T Bank reported a robbery, the documents state. A man wearing a different outfit and no mask approached the teller and handed her a note, implying he had a gun, which read, "You have 30 seconds to give me all of your $100 bills or a bullet goes in your head. No dye pack!!" according to the documents.
Once he received the cash, the man fled the bank.
Friedman was arrested at 7:45 p.m. the same day after police, acting on a tip, stopped his vehicle on Georgia Avenue in Silver Spring, county police said. Friedman asked the officer, "How did you catch me?" according to charging documents. He had $1,005 on him, the documents say.
A search warrant revealed that a backpack in the trunk of the car had $1,280, three bottles of Xanax, a black replica automatic handgun and a note that matched the one displayed at the pharmacy, according to charging documents.
Friedman was originally scheduled for a bond hearing on Nov. 16, but it was postponed after his defense attorney, Barry Helfand of Rockville, said he did not have the chance to speak to his client.
Helfand said Friday he will request a psychological examination of Friedman, who has a master's degree from Johns Hopkins University and no previous criminal history.
Helfand said he devised the conditions of Friedman's bond.
"What I want to ensure is that No. 1, he's safe, and No. 2, that he get alcohol, drug and mental health treatment," he said.
Paul Zmuda, a Montgomery County assistant state's attorney, said he wanted the bond at $20,000 because of the "seriousness of the crimes."
Friedman is scheduled for a preliminary hearing Dec. 11.
He is in his second year of teaching biology and matter and energy at Clarksburg High School, according to the school Web site.
He has worked for Montgomery County Public Schools since 2005, said spokesman Dana Tofig. He was a substitute teacher until he was hired to teach at Clarksburg, Tofig said. Friedman is on administrative leave with pay until his case is resolved in the court system, which is school system policy, Tofig said.
Clarksburg Principal James Koutsos posted a letter to parents on the school Web site on Nov. 16 to inform them of the incident and let them know he is looking for a substitute teacher with science certification to teach Friedman's classes. Koutsos referred all questions from The Gazette to the school system.
Friedman's mother, Cassie Friedman, said she and her husband, Jerry, are committed to helping their son. His girlfriend and grandmother were also present in court on Friday, but declined to give their names.
"He has no prior record and it's very out of character — a breakdown of some sort," Friedman, of Rockville, said. "We're just wishing him the best and we want to do whatever we can to help him."