Ex-LAPD Cop Convicted of $350K Crypto Theft

A Los Angeles County Superior Court jury found former LAPD officer Eric Halem guilty of kidnapping and robbery following a two-week trial. Halem and three accomplices posed as police officers executing a search warrant at an apartment rented by a 17-year-old who possessed a significant amount of cryptocurrency. The group restrained the teenager and his girlfriend using LAPD-issued handcuffs, threatening the teen's life until he surrendered a hard drive containing Bitcoin valued at $350,000. Halem, who left the LAPD in 2022 but was a reserve officer at the time of the robbery, is scheduled for sentencing on March 31. His attorney argued that the victim's story was uncorroborated and that the teen acquired the crypto through fraud. The case is cited as an example of a global trend known as "wrench attacks" against crypto holders.

(Source：Cointelegraph)