Border Patrol agent charged with assaulting LBPD officer has died

An off-duty U.S. Border Patrol Officer who had been charged with assaulting a Long Beach police officer and resisting arrest in the Shoreline Village parking lot last month has died, according to the Riverside County Sheriff's Department.

Sheriff's deputies found Isaiah Anthony Hodgson, 29, dead at 12:45 p.m. on Friday, Aug. 22 at a residence in the Valle Vista neighborhood of unincorporated Hemet, according to RCSD spokesperson Sgt. Wenndy Brito-Gonzalez.

Deputies saw no evidence of foul play, Brito-Gonzalez said, but she had no further details on his death. The Riverside County Coroner's Bureau is investigating, Brito-Gonzalez added.

Hodgson's death was first reported by LA Taco.

The Los Angeles District Attorney's office had charged Hodgson with carrying a concealed weapon and engaging "in violent conduct" on Monday, July 7 while being arrested by an LBPD officer, according to police and the DA's office.

If convicted, Hodgson had faced a possible maximum sentence of seven years in state prison, according to DA officials.

Hodgson was allegedly "off-duty, intoxicated and armed with a handgun" while at a Shoreline Village restaurant, according to a statement from the DA's office. Hodgson then allegedly entered the women’s restroom, where he approached a female who saw that he had a handgun and firearm magazine, the DA said. Hodgson then allegedly left the restaurant soon after the female told the restaurant’s manager that he was armed and in the women’s restroom, according to the DA.

Outside the restaurant in the parking lot, a security guard allegedly saw Hodgson with a firearm magazine and a gun on his waistband and approached him, the DA said. The guard then allegedly asked Hodgson to leave multiple times, saying that guns were not allowed on the property, the DA said.

Long Beach police officers responded to the scene after receiving a call regarding an intoxicated person who brandished a firearm, according to LBPD spokesperson Alyssa Baeza. When officers arrived, they reportedly saw Hodgson "intoxicated and unwilling to cooperate with their commands as they tried to detain him," the DA said. 

As Hodgson "resisted arrest," he allegedly became "agitated and physical" with the officers, injuring one of them, according to the DA's office.

Officers "used a takedown and deployed a CEW (Conducted Electrical Weapon)" when arresting Hodgson, Baeza said.

A spokesperson for the Department of Homeland Security, which oversees Customs and Border Protection, did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The department previously told Long Beach Watchdog that Hodgson's conduct was "under investigation."

The DA's office charged Hodgson with three felony counts of resisting an executive officer; one felony count of battery with injury on a peace officer; one misdemeanor count of exhibiting a concealable firearm in public; one misdemeanor count of having a concealed firearm on person; and one misdemeanor count of carrying a loaded firearm on one’s person, according to the DA's office.

The court also ordered that Hodgson not possess any firearms, not leave the State of California and attend at least three alcohol counseling meetings a week as a condition of his release, the DA said.

“The conduct exhibited by Mr. Hodgson, a border patrol agent who has the duty to uphold the law and protect its citizens, is unacceptable and deeply troubling,” said District Attorney Nathan J. Hochman in a July statement. “No one is above the law, regardless of their position or badge. Law enforcement officers have a responsibility to always conduct themselves with integrity and professionalism. Our office will pursue prosecution accordingly to ensure justice is served.”