Secret Service officer, allegedly drunk, arrested in Miami

A Secret Service officer was arrested in Miami early Friday after he was found passed out and apparently drunk on a street corner the day after President Obama left the city, the Associated Press reports.

AP reports that Aaron Francis Engler was not on duty when found on a sidewalk around 7 a.m. The news service’s account notes that he was in Miami, where Obama made campaign stops Thursday, but that he was not part of Obama’s personal security detail.

The Miami Herald reported that a Miami Police Dept. arrest affidavit describes an encounter in which an officer asked Engler to get up and he refused.

“He had bloodshot eyes and slurred speech. The officer had to help Engler stand to his feet before he started flailing his arms around. While the officer began searching Engler to handcuff him, the agent struck the officer in the face and chin,” the Herald reported, adding that an additional police unit was called to restrain him.

Engler was arrested on two misdemeanor charges and released to the Secret Service's Miami field office, according to news accounts.

Edwin Donovan, a Secret Service spokesman, told news outlets that the case will be turned over to the agency’s Office of Professional Responsibility.

The Secret Service is already under scrutiny over the conduct of agents during presidential trips.

In April, agents brought prostitutes back to their hotel while preparing for President Obama’s visit to Colombia, prompting several resignations.

--Click here and here for more of The Hill’s coverage of the prostitution scandal.