>>> March 14, 2002

Going for gold

Three U.S. Secret Service agents who had been assigned to keep the Olympic games free of incident are currently being investigated by Provo, Utah police and may face charges of public intoxication, aggravated assault and sexual assault.

The investigation began when the manager at a Provo hotel went to deal with a complaint regarding a party going on in one of the agents’ rooms. According to the manager, when he asked the agents to tone it down, one agent threw him against the wall and threatened to shoot him in the head. A complaint to Provo police only sparked interest four days later when they caught word that a female guest of the agents might have been sexually assaulted.

The Utah County Attorney’s Office is expected to decide whether to lay charges as soon as the investigation is complete. The Secret Service have put the accused on paid leave pending results of their own investigation. :

—Scott Saxon