A part-time Metro bus driver was arrested Wednesday and charged with one count of first-degree child sexual abuse stemming from an alleged encounter with a 15-year-old girl aboard a bus he was driving.
Metro police arrested 27-year-old Theophilis Ammon Burroughs Jr., who was arraigned Wednesday afternoon in District of Columbia Superior Court. The Greenbelt resident was released without bail but was ordered to participate in D.C.’s “heightened supervision pretrial program,” among other conditions.
Metro spokeswoman Lisa Farbstein said the alleged incident occurred Dec. 19 around 6 p.m. The bus, which Burroughs was driving, had finished its afternoon run on Route 97 and was going to the Bladensburg Bus Garage when it stopped in Northeast D.C., where the sexual encounter allegedly occurred.
The alleged victim reported the incident to a witness, who helped her contact Metro’s police department, Farbstein said.
According to court documents, the girl originally told police that Burroughs threatened her with a knife and was violent during intercourse but later recanted, saying she made those claims to avoid getting in trouble with her parents. Burroughs had been employed with Metro since Nov. 5. Metro could not provide his current employment status, citing confidentiality requirements.
Channing Phillips, a spokesman for the U.S. Attorney’s office in D.C., said Wednesday’s case is not linked to the August arrest of another Metro bus driver with the same last name. Arron Jahimal Burroughs is being held in D.C. jail awaiting trial on first-degree child sex abuse charges.
