FBI agent acquitted in 2020 D.C. subway shooting now arrested on sexual assault charges
An FBI agent has been accused of sexually assaulting two women, according to police and court records. Agent Eduardo Valdivia was previously acquitted of attempted murder Shooting a man on a subway train Four years ago, near Washington, D.C. He was arrested in Maryland on Monday.
An FBI spokesman said Valdivia has been suspended from the FBI pending the conclusion of the investigation by Montgomery County, Maryland, police.
“The FBI takes allegations of criminal violations and misconduct very seriously. We are aware of the incident involving the recent arrest of an FBI employee and are cooperating fully with the Montgomery County Police Department. As this is an ongoing investigation, The FBI is unable to comment further,” the FBI said in a statement to CBS affiliate so.
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Valdivia was previously charged with attempted second-degree murder and other charges, including first-degree assault and reckless endangerment, when he opened fire on another man after-hours on a moving Metro train near Washington, D.C. shooting and was found not guilty in 2022. He himself was taken to local authorities in the county jail, where a judge quickly agreed to release him on personal recognizance without prosecutorial objection.
A Maryland jury found Valdivia not guilty of murder or related charges after the agent claimed he acted in self-defense. The charges stem from an apparent verbal confrontation with another man on a subway train. Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority police said about a week after the shooting that the injured man was in stable condition.
Online court records Valdivia now faces felony and misdemeanor charges, including two counts of second-degree rape. The alleged crimes were committed in May 2024 and September 2024.
Robert Boncib, the defense attorney in the Valdivia shooting case, confirmed that his client was arrested Monday on sexual assault charges.
“We will not accept any charges at first glance until all the evidence is in place,” Boncibu said.
A spokesman for the Montgomery County Police Department identified Valdivia as the arrested FBI agent but did not comment on his connection to the shooting.
Detectives believe there may be more victims and they plan to hold a news conference on Tuesday “to encourage them to come forward,” police said in a statement. Police did not immediately release any other information about the charges.
Boncibu said Valdivia, 40, of Gaithersburg, Maryland, was ordered detained after his first court appearance Monday. Boncibu said Valdivia is scheduled to return to court on Tuesday for a bond hearing before a judge.
Boncibu said Valdivia joined the FBI in 2011 and was promoted to supervisory special agent at FBI headquarters in 2019. The lawyer said Valdivia has been working as an FBI agent since his acquittal.
On December 15, 2020, a confrontation between Valdivia and an unarmed passenger on a train near the Bethesda Medical Center station in Maryland quickly escalated from heated words to a shooting.
County Prosecutor Robert Hill said in court that Valdivia shot and wounded the man from a distance of about 2 to 3 feet after repeatedly telling the man to stay back. Hill said the injured man’s spleen, colon and pancreas were partially or completely removed during surgery after the shooting.
Boncibu said Valdivia acted in self-defense when the man approached him in the back of the train car.
“The law does not require you to wait until you are hit before taking action. If this resulted in a hand-to-hand fight and a struggle for Valdivia’s agent gun, God only knows what would have happened,” Bossi said after Valdivia was charged Boo said.
