Two Secret Service agents and three Air Force officers assigned to protect the vice president pounded each other into a bloody mess outside a bar last Thanksgiving, according to police records obtained by Fox News.
The five men were part of a security team assigned to the Biden family while they vacationed on Nantucket Island. The fight was one of at least two incidents police near Martha’s Vineyard have investigated involving Secret Service and other agents from Obama and Biden’s security teams, Fox reports.
The brawling began after midnight on Nov. 24, 2011 when Eric “Bomb Squad” Gahagan, a Massachusetts State Police bomb technician assigned to Biden, angrily accused Air Force men of taking pictures of him dancing with female Secret Service agent Yumi Kim.
Air Force officers John Tran, Michael Valeich and Lucas Wiemer told Gahagan they were not taking pictures. Tran told police Gahagan said, “I’ll kick all three of your asses” before shoving Valeich off his chair and punching him.
After Wiemer and Tran tried to restrain Gahagan, Secret Service agent Jonathan Dawes punched Tran in the jaw and grabbed Weimer by the neck.
The bouncer that night told cops “the incident bothered him because Gahagan and Dawes were both considerably bigger than the men they attacked,” the police report stated. “He said he felt that Gahagan and Dawes were acting like bullies.”
The nightclub staff ushered the men outside, and the two groups split.
“Don’t go back to your hotel,” Gahagan yelled as he was being led out by a bouncer, according to the police report. “We know where you’re staying!”
Later that night, Gahagan and Dawles spotted Valeich, Tran and Wiemer returning to the bar to pay their tab. Gahagan again asked if they were taking pictures and started another fight. Both parties left with “visible damage,” according to the police report. The officers suffered black eyes, head contusions and a chipped tooth.
Although Gahagan and Dawles knew they were attacking men from the Biden team, the Air Force men thought Gahagan and Dawles were local cops until they reported the altercations 20 hours later.
Nuntucket police brought Dawles in for questioning, but he wouldn’t speak without an attorney. No one involved would participate in an investigation, so police dropped the matter with no charges.
Gahagan was removed from his position with the Biden team the next day.
Seven months later, Massachusetts state police are still investigating the incident.
“If our department complaint against him is sustained, he will face disciplinary action,” Mass. state police spokesman Dave Procopio told FoxNews.com.
Secret Service spokesman Max Milien did not explain what his agency did, if anything, about the incident.
“We were made aware of this incident when it occurred,” Milien told Fox News. “There were no criminal charges filed in this matter against any Secret Service personnel. As in all matters of alleged employee misconduct, the appropriate follow-up was conducted.”
