{"id":421204,"date":"2026-03-04T00:51:13","date_gmt":"2026-03-03T19:21:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dripp.zone\/news\/ex-lapd-officer-found-guilty-of-350k-wrench-attack-bitcoin-robbery-crypto-news\/"},"modified":"2026-03-04T02:16:32","modified_gmt":"2026-03-03T20:46:32","slug":"ex-lapd-officer-found-guilty-of-350k-wrench-attack-bitcoin-robbery-crypto-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dripp.zone\/news\/ex-lapd-officer-found-guilty-of-350k-wrench-attack-bitcoin-robbery-crypto-news\/","title":{"rendered":"Ex-LAPD Officer Found Guilty of $350K \u2018Wrench Attack\u2019 Bitcoin Robbery – Crypto News"},"content":{"rendered":"
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In brief<\/h4>\n
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  • A former LAPD officer has been found guilty of kidnapping and robbery after a home invasion in which he held a teenage crypto owner at gunpoint.<\/li>\n
  • Eric Halem and his alleged associates stole a hard drive containing $350.000 worth of Bitcoin from the victim.<\/li>\n
  • The crime is the latest in a series of “$5 wrench attacks” that have soared by 75% year-on-year, according to a recent study.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n

    A former LAPD officer has been convicted over a \u201c$5 wrench attack\u201d after stealing $350,000 in cryptocurrency from a 17-year-old during a home invasion in 2024.<\/p>\n

    A Los Angeles Superior Court jury found Eric Halem, 38, guilty of kidnapping and robbery, according to a report in the Los Angeles Times<\/i><\/a>.<\/p>\n

    Halem was charged<\/a> in December 2024 with kidnapping for ransom, first-degree residential robbery, and home invasion robbery, after he and his alleged accomplices entered an apartment in Koreatown, handcuffing two victims and transferring money from their cryptocurrency account. According to a press release published by the Los Angeles County District Attorney\u2019s Office, the charges carry a life sentence in state prison.<\/p>\n

    Per the LA Times<\/i>, Halem and his alleged accomplices posed as police in order to gain entry to the victim\u2019s high-rise apartment, before restraining him and his girlfriend and threatening to shoot him if he refused to give up a hard drive containing his Bitcoin<\/span><\/a> keys.<\/p>\n

    The victim, who testified under his first name, Daniel, admitted on the stand to having obtained his crypto holdings through fraud.<\/p>\n

    Halem\u2019s attorney, Megan Maitia, described her client and his alleged associates as \u201cknuckleheads,\u201d questioning why they had, per trial testimony, driven to the scene of the crime in a green Range Rover and an orange Lamborghini Urus owned by his car rental company and equipped with GPS trackers.<\/p>\n

    In text messages shared after the robbery, Halem said he was monitoring police traffic and that \u201cSomeone I know fed wise called me.\u201d<\/p>\n

    Halem\u2019s co-defendants have yet to stand trial and maintain their innocence.<\/p>\n