US Agent Found Passed Out After Obama Rally

A Secret Service agent has been found passed out and apparently drunk on a Miami street corner hours after President Barack Obama's rally in the city.

Aaron Francis Engler, an officer with the agency's uniformed division, was found unresponsive on a pavement near a popular nightlife area at about 7am, police said.

Mr Engler was in Miami in a support role for Mr Obama's trip, which included an afternoon campaign rally at the University of Miami and an evening fundraiser.

His exact duties during the president's visit are unclear, but he was not part of the president's personal security detail.

Miami police say Mr Engler was arrested on two misdemeanour charges around 12 hours after Mr Obama's visit, and released to members of the Secret Service's Miami field office.

Edwin Donovan, a Secret Service spokesman, said the case will be passed to the agency's Office of Professional Responsibility, which investigates allegations of wrongdoing by Secret Service employees.

It is the second alcohol-related incident for the agency in the past six months.

In April, 13 officers and agents were implicated in a prostitution scandal in Cartagena, Colombia, in advance of Mr Obama's arrival for a South American summit.

After a night of partying in some of Cartagena's bars and clubs, the employees brought women, including prostitutes, back to the Hotel Caribe, where the employees were staying.

The event became public after one agent refused to pay a prostitute and the two had an argument in the hotel hallway.

Eight of the Secret Service employees have been forced out of the agency, three were cleared of serious misconduct and at least two employees are fighting to get their jobs back.

The incident prompted Secret Service Director Mark Sullivan to issue a new code of conduct that included barring employees from drinking within 10 hours of the start of a shift.

It is unclear when Mr Engler was scheduled to work again.

In August, a Secret Service agent left a gun in the bathroom of Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney's campaign plane and a reporter found the weapon.

The Secret Service said the agent was assigned to Mr Romney's security team.