FBI agent found unconscious

Jace Radke

Thursday, Feb. 10, 2005 | 11:23 a.m.

An FBI agent has been charged with misdemeanor drunken driving after being found unconscious with an empty bottle of rum and a loaded gun inside his pickup truck as it began to catch fire.

Special Agent Robert Clymer, 40, was cited by Metro Police in the early morning hours of Jan. 29 after he passed out with the engine running in the truck near Gowan Road and Buffalo Drive.

An empty bottle of Captain Morgan's rum and a handgun with one round in the chamber were found in the cab of the truck that jumped a curb and came to a stop near a key code box in front of a gated community, police said.

The FBI would not comment about Clymer or possible disciplinary actions that could be taken against him, but he is a member of the bureau's organized crime squad and is one of the agents investigating the Crazy Horse Too strip club.

Metro Police were called about 3 a.m. on Jan. 29 by security at the Suncoast who reported that there was an apparently drunk man with a holstered gun on his hip who was urinating in the parking lot.

When security approached the man in the parking lot, he got into his Chevrolet Silverado pickup and drove off before Metro officers arrived, Metro Police spokesman Sgt. Chris Jones said.

Before leaving, the man dropped a loaded handgun magazine in the parking lot, Jones said.

After running the license plates, recorded by the security guards, Metro officers were sent to Clymer's home, but he wasn't there. About 90 minutes later police got a report of a pickup that came to a stop with the driver's side wheels jumping a curb.

The pickup was running and smoking and was beginning to catch fire when police and Las Vegas Fire Department crews arrived. The responders had to "forcibly open the vehicle doors," and "discovered an unconscious and unresponsive" Clymer in the driver's seat, according to the officer's report.

Paramedics preformed CPR on Clymer who had suffered smoke inhalation. Clymer was taken to University Medical Center where he was eventually discharged on Feb. 1, UMC officials said.

Clymer remained unconcious for some time after being taken to UMC and was cited for misdemeanor drunken driving by police, Jones said.

Jones said it is a common practice for officers to issue citations for misdemeanor drunken driving instead of taking the driver into custody if the driver is injured and admitted to the hospital.

"He was issued a citation not because of who he is but because of his condition," Jones said.

Had Clymer injured someone else he would have been charged with a felony and would have been booked into the Clark County Jail upon his release from the hospital.

Clymer will have to appear before a judge on the misdemeanor charge, but a hearing has not yet been set according to District and Justice Court records.

Metro Police said this morning that the results of the blood-alcohol content test were not yet available.