David Doherty was standing at his desk at the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration headquarters in Los Angeles when the boss of another office launched into a profanity-laced rant.
Doherty testified at a preliminary hearing in a San Fernando courtroom earlier this year that fellow agent James Young came “face to face” with Doherty and challenged him to a fight without any provocation.
Doherty said he tried to de-escalate the situation by hugging Young and telling him “it was okay, brother,” according to his testimony. But then, Doherty said, he felt Young's DEA-issued gun pressed against his stomach.
“I got you, mother…” Doherty remembers Young saying.
Young then pointed the gun at Doherty's face, according to the agent's affidavit.
James Young allegedly pulled a gun on a fellow federal agent during an incident at a DEA office in Los Angeles in 2022.
(Al Seib / For The Times)
Staring down the barrel of a gun wielded by the officer, who at the time in 2022 oversaw roughly 30 officers at the DEA's Ventura County office, Doherty told the court he tackled Young to the ground and disarmed him.
More than two years later, the Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office Young, 54, has been charged with assault. about the incident.
It was one of several bizarre moments that led Young to leave the DEA — but only after the agency twice promoted him despite documented concerns about his behavior and mental health.
The Times reviewed the Los Angeles police report filed by Doherty about the alleged assault, as well as DEA disciplinary records and internal emails.
Records show that DEA officials were well aware of Young's troubling behavior but still assigned him increased responsibilities. According to the agent's testimony and the LAPD report, one senior DEA official even tried to dissuade Doherty from reporting the attack to police.
Following Doherty's testimony at the preliminary hearing, Young was arraigned on multiple charges for crimes he allegedly committed between 2022 and 2024, including motor vehicle accidents, domestic violence and illegal possession of stockpiles of guns, ammunition and grenades.
Young, who remains free on bail, has pleaded not guilty to all charges. He declined to comment. His attorney, Jeff Fall, said he plans to ask the judge to allow Young to participate in a diversion program due to mental health issues, but did not provide any additional details about his client or the case.
A DEA spokeswoman said she could not respond to media requests due to the federal government shutdown, although the agency had previously declined to comment. The Times reports on Young.
Young's first problems with the DEA arose in 2012 while he was on assignment in Tokyo. That same year, he was sent home after a “medical examination” that determined he had problems that “interfered with or interfered with his ability to perform the necessary tasks and responsibilities of his position,” according to a treatment agreement between Young and the Drug Enforcement Administration reviewed by The Times.
The document states that Young was required to undergo therapy for “mental health issues” and “alcohol abuse.”
Young was also suspended for two days for “improper operation of a government vehicle and poor judgment” while in Tokyo, according to the DEA disciplinary notice.
Young was transferred to Los Angeles in 2013 and eventually headed the DEA's satellite office in Ventura County, according to Doherty's testimony.
The agent filed a complaint against Young in 2021, accusing him of making “erratic, unprofessional phone calls” and “inappropriate comments” to subordinates, according to an email reviewed by The Times. It is unclear what the DEA did about the complaint.
Two federal law enforcement officials, who requested anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly, told The Times that many agents sensed something was wrong with Young, and both recounted stories of colleagues concerned about his handling of firearms.
Doherty testified that after a shooting incident at a DEA office in Los Angeles in 2022, he felt agency leadership was trying to protect Young.
“I didn’t feel like it was handled properly, and I kind of saw the writing on the wall that the DEA was trying to sweep this under the rug,” Doherty said in court.
Doherty made a report to LAPD Central Station shortly after the shooting. In it, he said that another DEA officer in Los Angeles, Assistant Special Agent in Charge Brian Clark, tried to dissuade him from going to the police. Clark warned Doherty that Young might indeed try to press assault charges against him, according to the report, which does not explain Clark's motive.
Clark, who is now special agent in charge of the Los Angeles field office, did not respond to an email seeking comment.
The LAPD investigation ended when the head of the local DEA office in Los Angeles, Bill Bodner, called:LAPD Deputy Chief Al Labrada and claimed jurisdiction over the incident, according to the police report.
Bodner left the DEA in 2023, according to his LinkedIn profile. He and Labrada did not respond to questions from The Times. An LAPD spokesman did not respond to a request for comment on the case.
The U.S. Department of Justice Office of Inspector General eventually presented the criminal case to local prosecutors in December 2022, according to a spokeswoman for the Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office. But assault charges related to the attack on the field office were not filed until June 2025. The spokeswoman declined to explain the delay.
Young retired from the DEA in 2024 but was allowed to receive pay while on administrative leave for about 18 months after the alleged attack on Doherty, according to two federal law enforcement officials.
According to the criminal complaint, in September 2024, Young allegedly got into a fight with a driver on the 405 Freeway, crashed his car into another vehicle, and then pulled a gun on the victim.
The day after the road rage incident, Young attacked his wife and put her in a wrestling hold, putting pressure on her head and neck, authorities said. A subsequent search of Young's Saugus home by Los Angeles County sheriff's deputies revealed 30,000 rounds of ammunition, several grenades, a sawed-off shotgun, and altered credentials to make it appear that Young was still an active DEA agent.
Investigators also discovered what was described in court documents as a “gang execution” video that played on loop on a large screen.
If convicted of the charges, Young faces up to 29 years in prison.
In Doherty's case, text messages shown in court show Young claimed he didn't understand why pulling the gun was wrong until it happened.
“Bro, I love you. I would die for you. I'm sorry I got it all wrong. I thought we were playing but I know I screwed up and misunderstood the situation,” Young wrote to Doherty. “Please forgive me… I would never do anything to hurt you. Please forgive me for pulling the gun. You can sue me. I will admit it.”
