ADVERTISEMENT

Report: Secret Service Agent Loses Gun, Badge to Thief Near White House

A Secret Service agent
A Secret Service agent / AP
December 22, 2015

A Secret Service agent reportedly had his gun, badge, radio, handcuffs, and flash drive stolen Monday near the White House.

CNN reported:

The agent’s belongings were taken from his personal vehicle while it was parked on G Place in downtown Washington around 4 p.m. ET. A report filed with the Metropolitan Police Department several hours later describes the agent returning to his car and noticing the back rear window of his car had been "unzipped." The report says the agent noticed "a bag with the listed property was taken out of the vehicle." The report lists a black Sig Sauer handgun, an APX6000 radio, handcuffs, a USB flash drive, a black Patagonia bag and a Secret Service badge, number 1266, as the stolen items. The agent, who isn’t named in the report but who a source said works in the Presidential Protective Division, saw a person reaching into the vehicle, the report states, "but didn’t see him take anything out."

The contents of the flash drive stolen from the agent’s car are unknown.

The report of the theft comes just weeks after a scathing congressional report indicated that the Secret Service is facing a "crisis" and needs immediate reform and outside leadership.

The report, compiled by the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, pointed to previously unreported details of security breaches as evidence of the Secret Service’s failings. In one of the incidents, agents failed to prevent four individuals from fishing in Vice President Joe Biden’s backyard in Delaware in April 2013.

The Secret Service has been widely scrutinized since the April 2012 prostitution scandal in Cartagena, Colombia, that led to eight employees being fired.

Recent breaches at the White House have also renewed criticism of the Secret Service.