A U.S. Border Patrol agent who was found dead in a Riverside County home earlier this year following an arrest in Long Beach overdosed on cocaine and was dealing with depression, according to an autopsy report made public Tuesday.
Isaiah Hodgson, 29, was found dead in his bedroom in Hemet in late August with white “powder-like residue” near him, according to investigative documents released by the Riverside County Sheriff’s Office in response to a public records request from The Times.
Authorities ruled Hodgson’s death to be accidental and found three plastic bindles, which are normally used to hold drugs, in his stomach, according to the coroner’s report. Riverside County sheriff’s department officials previously said there were no signs of foul play at the scene, and the report confirmed Hodgson had not sustained any injuries or defensive wounds. His official cause of death was described as “cocaine toxicity.”
In early July, Hodgson was arrested in Long Beach for fighting with city police. Prosecutors charged Hodgson with three counts of resisting arrest, one count of battery causing injury to a police officer and several misdemeanor weapons offenses after he scuffled with officers responding to a restaurant in the Shoreline Village. Staff had kicked Hodgson out, reporting he drunkenly wandered into the women’s restroom while armed with a handgun.
In dramatic body cam footage reviewed by The Times, Long Beach Police officers approached Hodgson on July 7 after a 911 call made by a security guard who reported Hodgson had shown him a gun.
“He showed me a freaking clip,” the caller said in the 911 audio recording obtained by The Times.
When officers approached Hodgson, they yelled “Get on the ground,” and “Put your hands up.”
Hodgson put his hands up but would not get on the ground. He suggested to officers that he worked for a police department: “Are you stupid, I’m PD,” he said.
It took several officers to get Hodgson to kneel on the ground. One officer repeatedly used a taser on him.
Charges against Hodgson are expected to be dismissed at a court hearing next month, according to a spokesman for the Los Angeles County district attorney’s office.
Hodgson became a visible face of the Trump administration’s sweeping immigration enforcement efforts in Southern California in June, as one of the only unmasked agents involved in the controversial detention of Wal-Mart employee Adrian Martinez, a U.S. citizen. Martinez was accused of interfering with Border Patrol agents attempts to detain one of his co-workers. Martinez was indicted and is awaiting trial.
Hodgson was part of a group of officers who rushed Martinez and shoved him to the ground. While video from the scene did not show Hodgson physically contact Martinez, his name quickly became public as he appeared to be the lone agent involved in the controversial arrest who was not wearing a mask.
Hodgson was supposed to meet his parents at the beach the day he died, but never showed up, according to the coroner’s report. His cousin went to Hodgson’s home to conduct a welfare check and found his body.
Hodgson’s parents told police their son “had been depressed since being on administrative leave, but they stated he was not suicidal and did not have any suicidal ideations,” according to the report. Hodgson previously struggled with cocaine and alcohol abuse, his family said, according to the documents. But, they said, Hodgson had been attending Alcoholics Anonymous for approximately two months, according to the coroner’s report.
A handwritten note found in Hodgson’s car was originally thought to be a suicide note, but later was determined to be “a character witness statement for Hodgson dated back from June of 2025,” according to the coroner’s report. Hodgson had been “receiving death threats” after his personal information was posted online, according to the report.
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security has repeatedly claimed its officers are facing a major surge in death threats as protests against the Trump administration’s sprawling immigration raids in major cities including Los Angeles and Chicago have ramped up. Recently, the government sued California over a law that seeks to bar all local and federal law enforcement officers from wearing masks when performing official duties in public.
Representatives for the Department of Homeland Security and U.S. Border Patrol did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
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