FBI agent acquitted in 2020 train shooting is arrested on sexual assault charges
WASHINGTON (AP) — An FBI agent who was acquitted of attempted murder for shooting a man on a train nearly four years ago was arrested Monday in Maryland on charges that he sexually assaulted two women, according to police and court records.
Eduardo Valdivia has been suspended by the FBI pending the conclusion of a police investigation in Montgomery County, Maryland, a bureau spokesperson said.
“The FBI takes allegations of criminal violations and misconduct very seriously,” the FBI spokesperson said in a statement. “Because this is an ongoing investigation, the FBI cannot comment further.”
Valdivia previously was charged and acquitted in 2022 of attempted second-degree murder and other charges stemming from an off-duty shooting aboard a moving Metro train near Washington, D.C.
Online court records show Valdivia now faces felony and misdemeanor charges, including two counts of second-degree rape. The dates of the alleged offenses are in May 2024 and September 2024.
Defense attorney Robert Bonsib, who represented Valdivia in the shooting case, confirmed that his client was arrested Monday on sexual assault charges.
“We don’t accept at first blush any of the allegations until all of the evidence is in,” Bonsib said.
A spokesperson for the Montgomery County Police Department identified Valdivia as the arrested FBI agent without commenting on his connection to the shooting.
Police detectives believe there may be additional victims, and they’re planning a news conference on Tuesday “to encourage them to come forward,” the department said in a statement. Police didn’t immediately release any other information about the charges.
Valdivia, 40, of Gaithersburg, Maryland, was ordered held in custody after his initial court appearance on Monday, Bonsib said. Valdivia is scheduled to return to court Tuesday for a bond hearing before a judge, Bonsib said.
Bonsib has said Valdivia joined the FBI in 2011 and was promoted to supervisory special agent at the FBI headquarters in 2019. The attorney said Valdivia had been working as an FBI agent since his acquittal.
On Dec. 15, 2020, a confrontation between Valdivia and an unarmed passenger swiftly escalated from a testy exchange of words to a shooting on a train approaching the Medical Center station in Bethesda, Maryland.
Valdivia shot and wounded the man from a distance of roughly 2 to 3 feet (0.6 to 0.9 meters) after repeatedly telling the man to back up, county prosecutor Robert Hill said in court. The wounded man had part or all of his spleen, colon and pancreas removed during surgery after the shooting, Hill said.
Bonsib has said Valdivia acted in self-defense as the man approached him at the rear of a train car.
“The law does not require that you wait to be struck before you take action. Had this resulted in a hands-on fight and a struggle for Agent Valdivia’s gun, only God knows what could have happened,” Bonsib said after Valdivia was charged.
By MICHAEL KUNZELMAN
Associated Press
