SAN DIEGO (CBS 8) - Two border patrol agents have been placed on administrative leave after being accused of engaging in a lewd sex act while attending a performance of Cirque du Soleil at the Del Mar Fairgrounds.
Both agents were arrested after a fight erupted between the female agent and an audience member who complained to security about the behavior.
Agents Kallie Helwig, 24, and Gerald Torello, 35, were off duty at the time of the incident on the evening of May 27, according to a Sheriff's department report obtained by News 8.
A woman in the audience sitting near the couple spoke to News 8 on the condition she not be identified.
"She had her head in his lap. It looked like her head and her hand where moving up and down and it looked like she was giving him oral sex in public," the woman said.
The witness told deputies, "Two young children that were sitting in the row in front of them had turned around and were watching them."
The woman said she used a strobe light on her cell phone to get the attention of security officers. Soon after, the activity stopped.
But after the show ended, as the complaining witness was exiting the show, she told deputies she saw Agent Helwig "throwing punches in the air" and heard Agent Torello say "… you can take her" and "go on babe," according to the report.
Agent Helwig is accused of punching the woman three times in the face, while Agent Torello scuffled with the woman's husband.
Deputies responded the fairgrounds around 7:30 p.m. and started interviewing witnesses.
In her own defense, Agent Helwig told the deputies, "She wasn't feeling well so she had her head on (Agent) Torello's lap and he was rubbing her stomach," the report reads.
Helwig also claimed that she was attacked first, but other witness accounts contradicted that version of events.
Photographs show injuries to the face of the woman who claimed the agent attacked her. She said Agent Helwig, "…just turned around and socked me right on my left eye. She got me with a punch to the right jaw and left jaw. I had a black eye and a knot in my forehead."
Other witnesses described the agents as intoxicated, according to the report.
Agent Helwig was ultimately given a misdemeanor citation for battery, while Agent Torello was detained for being drunk in public and later released.
Neither agent was charged with any crime related to a sex act in public because, according to investigators, witnesses in the audience did not see any specific sexual contact.
News 8 attempted to contact both agents via online messaging, but there has been no response.
U.S. Border Patrol Special Operations Supervisor Steven Pitts issued the following statement about the incident:
"All CBP employees are expected to conduct themselves in a professional manner while on or off duty. CBP stresses honor and integrity in every aspect of our mission, and the overwhelming majority of CBP employees and officers perform their duties with honor and distinction, working tirelessly every day to keep our country safe. CBP takes every allegation of misconduct seriously and each allegation is investigated."
The alleged victim tells News 8 she is still recovering from her injuries and is planning a lawsuit against the Border Patrol agents involved, Cirque du Soleil security, and possibly the operators of the Del Mar Fairgrounds.