The FBI's ill-fated search for a bank robbery suspect, which led to the March shooting of an unarmed Pasadena man, was flawed from the start, according to an Anne Arundel County police report released yesterday.

Problems ranging from malfunctioning equipment to poor supervision are detailed in the investigative report, which recounts the FBI shooting of 20-year-old Joseph C. Schultz in a case of mistaken identity.

Among the findings of the 128-page report:

Agents were working with a faulty radio system, with only one agent able to communicate with county police. That left agents without a complete description of the suspect's car and without key details from their informant.

Agents had no way of knowing whether the car they pulled over held the suspect.

The real suspect drove in circles around the FBI agents, who were in unmarked vehicles and out of uniform, and left the area unseen by federal agents.

Once agents stopped the car being driven by Schultz's girlfriend, they gave conflicting orders. One agent shouted, "Open the door!" while another ordered, "Put your hands up!"

In the March 1 mix-up, Schultz, who had no connection to the Pasadena bank robbery, was shot in the face with an M-4 assault rifle by FBI Special Agent Christopher Braga.

Schultz was returning from a local mall with girlfriend Krissy Harkum, 16. They had just stopped at a Glen Burnie 7-Eleven, where FBI agents were waiting for Michael J. Blottenberger Jr., 32, the suspect in a Feb. 20 bank robbery.

Both Schultz and Blottenberger were wearing white baseball caps. And both were passengers in red cars being driven by females.

The report was presented to an Anne Arundel County grand jury that investigated the shooting. On Tuesday, the grand jury declined to indict Braga.

Braga told the grand jury that Schultz did not put his hands up and that he believed Schultz might have been reaching for a weapon.

"The behavior of the entire FBI team in this case was appalling," Schultz's lawyer, Arnold M. Weiner, said yesterday. "It is apparent that this mission was undertaken without any regard for the harm these agents were likely to cause to innocent civilians, and it is no wonder Joe Schultz, an innocent bystander, was almost shot to death."

The report includes comments from Schultz, who has not spoken publicly.

In one interview with county detectives, Schultz said: "When [the agent] tried the door, he told me to unlock it. He then jumped back and off to the right. My hands were up clear in front of my face, showing them I had nothing in them. ... I was moving both hands back to unlock the lock on the top of the door so he could see me. The rifle was pointed at me. ... As I was reaching for the lock, I heard a pop, felt the glass hit me and my head got all warm."

Police noted in their report that the lock was actually located near the door handle.

Weiner said the difference is a matter of inches. "He was clearly moving to the right with his hands in full view, reaching for the door latch. And the door latch in this case was a couple of inches below the window sill."

Andrew C. White, Braga's lawyer, said had not seen the report and did not have access to witness statements.

The report draws no conclusions about who was at fault, but summarizes much of what led to the shooting.

"We felt a thorough, fact-finding probe was necessary, because an innocent person was almost killed by the actions of a law enforcement officer," said Anne Arundel County police Chief P. Thomas Shanahan. "The public needs to have confidence in their local and federal police agencies."

Braga, who took a brief voluntary leave after the shooting, has returned to duty. He could face federal criminal charges stemming from a pending review by the Justice Department's civil rights division. He also faces the possibility of internal FBI discipline.

Of the seven agents assigned to arrest Blottenberger that night, only Braga declined to speak with county detectives.

Again and again, agents pointed out flaws in their radio system, the report said. "We immediately began to have radio problems," said Special Agent Donald E. Kornek.

"I heard only intermittent radio transmissions from the surveillance/arrest team," said Special Agent Lawrence S. Brosnan. "The bureau radio system is seriously flawed," he said, blaming a 1999 injury on FBI radio woes. "Unless the bureau revamps the radio system, the possibility of loss of life and further injury will continue to plague the effectiveness of successful FBI investigations."

Brosnan told police that none of the agents staking out the 7-Eleven, at Route 648 and Marley Neck Boulevard, "could positively identify the passenger as Blottenberger, because they were too far away from the car."

According to 911 transcripts, the FBI's informant told dispatchers that Blottenberger had spotted the undercover agents and "has just been circling and circling and circling. He's riding past these officers."

Although the informant clearly said that Blottenberger was in a red Honda Civic, several agents had already keyed in on Schultz and Harkum, parked at the 7-Eleven in a red Pontiac Grand Am, the report shows.

Brosnan saw the Grand Am leave the parking lot. He and another agent called Braga on cell phones, telling Braga to follow it, not knowing whether the passenger was Blottenberger.

Harkum told police she was forced to the side of Fort Smallwood Road by two unmarked FBI cars. Special Agent Stephen P. Stowe who was among the four agents who jumped out of the cars and surrounded the young couple, told police that "Braga was next to me, yelling, "Show me your hands!"

Stowe said he focused on Harkum. "I yelled for her to unlock the door. ... As I was yelling again ... the passenger window exploded."

Agent L. Bradlee Sheafe told police that when he asked Braga what happened, Braga told him Schultz "had not complied" with orders to show his hands and had instead "reached toward his waist. ... Braga said this action put him in fear of his life as well as that of [Agent] Stowe."

Brosnan arrived to see the Grand Am's passenger window smashed, the female in handcuffs and the male passenger sitting on the ground with an agent tending to his bloody face.

He knew immediately that the young man was not Blottenberger and told Braga so.

"Everyone was quiet," Brosnan said.