Border patrol agent charged with assaulting Long Beach police officer allegedly linked to contentious arrest in Pico Rivera
A U.S. Customs and Border Protection agent allegedly involved in the contentious arrest of a Walmart employee in Pico Rivera has been charged with allegedly assaulting a Long Beach police officer on July 7.
The Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office charged agent Isaiah Anthony Hodgson, 29, with three felony counts of resisting an executive officer, one felony count of battery with injury on a peace officer, and he faces various misdemeanor charges involving carrying a loaded firearm. Hodgson pleaded not guilty to all charges.
The district attorney's office further alleges that Hodgson "engaged in violent conduct while committing the above offenses, indicating a serious danger to society."
At Hodgson's court arraignment in Long Beach on Friday, a judge ordered him not to possess any firearms, not to leave the state of California, and to attend at least three alcohol counseling meetings a week as a condition of his release.
While at a Shoreline Village restaurant on July 7, Hodgson was allegedly off-duty, intoxicated and armed with a handgun, according to the DA's Office. He is accused of going into the women's restroom, where he approached a woman who saw his handgun and firearm magazine. He reportedly left the restaurant soon after the woman told the manager that he was armed and inside the women's restroom.
The Long Beach Police Department responded to the area after a security guard outside of the restaurant allegedly saw Hodgson holding a firearm magazine along with a firearm on his waistband. The security guard asked Hodgson to leave and told him that firearms are not allowed on the property, the district attorney's office says.
Officers reportedly observed Hodgson intoxicated and said that as he resisted arrest, he allegedly "became agitated and physical with the officers, injuring one of them," according to the DA's Office.
"When anyone comes to our community to break the law, they should be held accountable, no matter who they work for," Long Beach Mayor Rex Richardson said. "This is indicative of a broader culture that should be addressed, that our community should be respected and protected."
If convicted as charged, Hodgson faces a possible maximum sentence of seven years in state prison.
The Department of Homeland Security said on Friday that the "matter is under investigation."
The arrest in Pico Rivera
Hundreds of protesters demonstrated in Pico Rivera after immigration agents arrested 20-year-old Adrian Andrew Martinez outside a Pico Rivera Walmart on June 17.
A cell phone video of the encounter shows Martinez, wearing a blue Walmart vest, appearing to talk to the U.S. Customs and Border Protection agents before authorities wrestled the 20-year-old to the ground. In the video of the arrest, an agent's sunglasses fell off and revealed his face.
Following Hodgson's arrest on July 7, Martinez identified Hodgson as one of the officers involved in his arrest after viewing the agent's booking photo.
During an interview with CBS News Los Angeles on June 25, Martinez said he approached the agents after he saw them use what he called "unnecessary force" to apprehend an elderly Latino janitor in the Walmart parking lot.
"I was just speaking, like telling them that's wrong, what you're doing is not right," Martinez said. "They took it the wrong way and threw me to the floor, and from then a man grabs me by my neck and throws me into a trash can thing."
Miller Law Group in Pasadena is helping Martinez fight the federal charge for free.
"The arrest confirms the fears many have right now regarding violent, unaccountable and unhinged federal agents roaming the streets," the Miller Law Group wrote in a statement emailed to CBS News Los Angeles. "Masked agents are violently and lawlessly kidnapping and warehousing our community members–citizens and non-citizens alike."
A day after Martinez's arrest, U.S. Attorney Bill Essayli posted on X that Martinez "was arrested for an allegation of punching a border patrol agent in the face after he attempted to impede their immigration enforcement operation."
Federal prosecutors charged Martinez with conspiracy to impede a federal investigation, according to the Department of Justice.
Martinez was held in a downtown L.A. federal detention facility for three days. Before being released, Martinez alleged that authorities tried to get him to admit to hitting an agent.
"They were just trying to get me to admit the whole time," Martinez said. "In reality, no, I didn't. I was just speaking up for a man. They're the ones that came at me with violence."
Attorney Chris Miller said his client was exercising his First Amendment right to free speech.
"In the end, charges were brought against him, we believe, to cover the agents' bad behavior," Miller said on June 25.
During the interview with CBS News Los Angeles last month, Martinez wore a brace on his leg and said he was still in pain more than a week after the arrest.
CBS News Los Angeles contacted the LA County Public Defender's Office, which is representing Hodgson, for a statement, but has not received a response.
