AURORA — Aurora police were justified when they detained dozens of innocent bystanders at gunpoint during their hunt for a bank robber in June, a federal judge ruled this week.

Prosecutors also will be able to use the evidence officers gathered during the massive traffic stop, which caused alarm and raised questions about whether police violated the public's right against unreasonable search and seizure.

Attorneys representing Christian Paetsch, 45, who was charged in the June 2 heist at the Wells Fargo branch on East Hampden Avenue, argued that the loaded handguns, ammunition, mask, wig, gloves, air horn and nearly $23,000 in cash officers found in his SUV should be tossed out because the stop was unconstitutional.

U.S. District Judge William J. Martinez agreed with prosecutors that police had probable cause to search Paetsch's vehicle, which was among the 20 stopped at the busy intersection of Iliff Avenue and Buckley Road, because he was "acting suspiciously, moving around in his seat and looking around a lot."

A GPS tracking device hidden in the stolen money also showed it was likely in Paetsch's SUV, the judge wrote in his ruling.

Because of the tracker, police knew the suspect was headed toward the intersection, but they lacked details about his physical description. With such vague information and a limited time to catch the culprit, officers were "reasonable to err on the side of caution and assume the robber could be any of the stopped adults," Martinez wrote. Officers ordered the bystanders out of their cars at gunpoint, handcuffed many of them and held them there for about two hours.


One woman said officers would not allow her to put her vehicle in park, forcing her to hold her foot on the brake while she showed her hands; another was arrested in front of her 11-year-old son, defense attorneys wrote in their motion. They said motorists were not allowed to use their cellphones or tend to their children while their hands were raised.

The judge said that "invasiveness" was the "most troubling" aspect of the officers' actions, but he would not second-guess their decision to stop the vehicles.

Sadie Gurman: 303-954-1661, or