The Central Valley man who police killed last week — purportedly attempting to arrest him for an alleged hit-and-run in San Francisco — thought very highly of law enforcement, his social media presence shows.
Hodge, whose identity has been reported widely in the media but remains unconfirmed by the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner, ran his own private security firm called Covert Guardian Solutions based in Lodi, in San Joaquin County.
Hodge and his company are licensed with the state Bureau of Security and Investigative Services. His company website advertises protection for high-profile individuals as well as security and surveillance for businesses. On his social media page, Hodge posted photos of a vehicle, labeled with Covert Guardian Solutions branding, outside both the Dior store and the nearby Louis Vuitton store.
Police believe that Hodge was working as a security guard outside the Dior store when officers approached him on Friday around 1:35 a.m., to arrest him for allegedly driving onto a sidewalk and running down three people with his car earlier on Thursday evening. Instead, for reasons that police have yet to explain, they ended up shooting him to death.
Police said they identified the suspect from witness statements and video of the scene.
A representative at Dior on Monday declined to confirm whether Hodge was working for their store, or confirm what security companies it contracts with.
In addition to working in private security, Hodge wrote on his social media pages that he was a police officer for six years, an army veteran, and also worked as a firefighter, EMT, and in other forms of private security for several years, though these jobs could not be independently confirmed. Hodge also said he received a law degree from the Drivon School of Law at Humphreys University in Stockton, and was an active commenter about police matters on local law enforcement pages.
Hodge was also a gun ownership advocate, making references on social media to his 2nd Amendment rights and calling the state “Commifornia,” apparently for its gun compliance laws. He also made posts about the state of San Francisco, with one calling the city “San FranFeces” and another calling for the boycott of San Francisco and its sanctuary city laws.
On Thursday evening, police said Hodge allegedly drove an SUV near Kearny and Sutter streets onto the sidewalk, striking two teenagers in his path and hitting a man on an e-bike. Police believe Hodge was pursuing the man on the e-bike, though it is unclear why.
A purported witness posted on Reddit that they were driving a car near an SUV as the driver of the SUV was parallel parking, when an apparent delivery man on an e-bike attempted to weave between the two cars. The SUV driver clipped the cyclist, the witness wrote, and became “super aggressive” demanding the cyclist’s “license and registration.”
Cynthia Gaffney said in an interview on Monday that she was just crossing Sutter Street on Thursday when an SUV came hurtling around the corner from Kearny Street and onto the Sutter sidewalk.
“When he careened around the corner, he was totally out of control,” Gaffney said. “It was like he suddenly hit the gas at full speed … [he] might’ve rolled over with just a tiny bit more momentum.”
Gaffney said the man on the bicycle appeared to be a delivery driver, and that he fled into a Sutter Street parking garage after the collision, leaving behind his bike. The driver, who Gaffney described as tall and white, did not pursue the cyclist, and was gone by the time police arrived at the scene.
“The security guy opens up very calmly, opens the back of the trunk of the SUV,” Gaffney said, noting the man was dressed like a security guard and had a firearm strapped to his person. “There was just a weird calmness about it.”
Police officials said in a press conference on Friday that the man tried to put the bike into his car, but instead took other items left behind by the cyclist. About seven hours later at 1:35 a.m., police tracked the SUV in question to the nearby Dior store at Grant Avenue and Post Street, where they came upon Hodge.
The SUV in question matches one in photos on Hodge’s company website. It appears that at some point in the evening, Hodge may have changed his license plate: A witness of the SUV hit-and-run sent a photo with one license plate, while news footage of the SUV being towed hours later showed a different license plate.
Assistant Chief David Lazar said on Friday that officers attempted to arrest Hodge, but ultimately ended up shooting him. Lazar could not say why the shooting occurred or confirm whether Hodge was on duty, but said a gun he believed to be Hodge’s was recovered at the scene.
On Friday, the Dior store’s glass front was pierced with bullet holes, which were quickly covered up later in the day.
It is unclear which area of the army or which police department Hodge may have worked for, or for how long.
But on his Facebook page, Hodge, who lived in Lodi in San Joaquin County, was enthusiastic about policing and regularly posted photos of police vehicles or badges from different jurisdictions.
In 2021, Hodge made the Stockton police badge — with a “thin blue line” across it — his profile picture on Facebook. He commented on the Lodi Police Department page for the rehiring of a police officer, apparently referring to an officer who was fired for violating a Covid-19 stay-at-home order. On a photo of a vehicle painted black and white like a police car with lights on top, Hodge commented about its legality, citing a California vehicle code.
Originally from Connecticut, Hodge studied Criminal Justice and Forensic Science at the University of New Haven, according to his online profiles. In addition to his law degree, his profiles state that he also received a master’s degree in Legal Studies from private non-profit Humphreys University. As of publication, none of this information could be independently confirmed.
Police are expected to hold a town hall meeting with more details about the incident within 10 days of the shooting.
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