Md. Man Nearly Hit By Errant Bullet From Official's Gun

City Employee Was Cleaning Firearm

Like a lot of bachelors, Russ Castle often eats cereal for dinner, sitting in front of a TV in a sparsely decorated apartment. Such was the case late one night this week. Cream of Wheat, with a little milk.

Unknown to the 37-year-old at the time, his next-door neighbor, Gaithersburg Assistant City Manager Fred Felton, was cleaning his Ruger .357 magnum, according to court records made public Thursday.

"What the hell?" Castle shouted as a bullet from Felton's gun tore through his wall, crossed the living room, passed through the Sea of Japan on a wall map, through a closet and lodged in another wall near his washing machine. Forensic experts said the round passed within six feet of Castle, according to an affidavit signed by Detective Pat Word of the Gaithersburg police.

What's really scary, Castle said, was that 10 seconds before the gun went off, he had walked through the path the bullet would travel, carrying his dinner from the microwave to his chair.

"It probably would have hit me in the head," Castle said, describing how the forensic experts had pointed lasers through his living room to reconstruct the bullet's path. "My head would have just exploded."

Castle said he is staying at a hotel for a few days, unsure of whether he would return to his apartment on Olde Town Avenue.

Felton, who police say had been drinking Tuesday night, was charged with discharging a weapon in an urban area and reckless endangerment and has been placed on administrative leave.

"Obviously, I am glad no one was hurt," Felton said Friday, referring additional questions to his attorney, Reginald Bours, who couldn't immediately be reached.

Angel Jones, his boss, said Friday that she is also investigating the incident. "We definitely have to look at a lot of things. This is a character-counts city."

This isn't Felton's first scrape with controversy recently. In late 2007, he was drinking with Maryland House Majority Leader Kumar P. Barve on a night when Barve would end up under arrest for drunken driving. At one point, Felton asked that a Gaithersburg police officer drive him to a county police station where Barve was being processed, according to Gaithersburg Police Chief John King. Barve later pleaded guilty to driving under the influence of alcohol.

A police officer gave Felton a ride, something King -- new to the job at the time -- came down on after he found out. "I didn't think it was appropriate," King recalled Thursday.

In 2007, Felton was accused of sending an inappropriate e-mail to a female staff member, using a different employee's computer to do so. The resolution of that matter couldn't be immediately learned Friday.