Teacher charged in armed robbery
North Bethesda man alleged to have used a gun to obtain drugs and money
A Clarksburg High School teacher was charged Friday with two counts of armed robbery.
Montgomery County Police say Brendan Fuller Friedman, 41, of North Bethesda, robbed a Safeway grocery store in Bethesda and a M&T bank in North Bethesda between 3:35 and 5 p.m. Friday.
The man entered displayed a handgun at the Safeway pharmacy counter and demanded Xanax and OxyContin, then fled on Friday afternoon. Witnesses told officers the robber wore a blue surgical mask, a black knit hat, a black jacket and a black hooded sweatshirt.
Next, a man wearing similar clothing demanded money from a teller at the M&T Bank on Executive Boulevard. He displayed a note implying he had a gun, county police spokesman Capt. Paul Starks said.
Friedman was arrested at 7:45 p.m. Friday after police, acting on a tip, stopped his vehicle on Georgia Avenue in Silver Spring.
Defense attorney Barry Helfand said he is requesting a psychological examination of his client, who has a master's degree from Johns Hopkins University and no previous criminal history.
Friedman 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 Monday 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 spokesman.
A check of an online court database found that Friedman's only previous citation in January was for failure to attach registration plates to his car. At the time he was living in the 18600 block of Queen Elizabeth Drive in Brookeville.
Copyright © Post-Newsweek Media, Inc./Gazette.Net