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A Los Angeles jury found 38-year-old former local police officer Eric Halem guilty of assaulting a 17-year-old boy to steal a flash drive containing bitcoins valued at $350,000.
According to case documents, Halem and two accomplices, dressed in police vests and armed, entered the victim’s apartment on the 18th floor of a residential building. The intruders used an access code to the apartment, which they obtained from a co-conspirator—the landlord who was renting the apartment to the teenager. Once inside, the assailants restrained the teenager’s girlfriend with handcuffs obtained from the police station, incapacitated the young man, and placed handcuffs on him as well. Threatening him with a firearm, the men demanded that the victim hand over his cold crypto wallet. After acquiring the crypto assets, Halem and his accomplices took cash and jewelry from the apartment and fled.
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During the trial, the teenager admitted that the stolen bitcoins were obtained through fraudulent means. However, the jury did not consider this fact as a mitigating circumstance for the attackers. Halem’s sentencing is scheduled for March 31, and he faces a potential life sentence. His accomplices have yet to stand trial.
Eric Halem served in the Los Angeles police for 13 years until 2022. At the time of the robbery, he held the status of a reserve officer. In addition, he was involved in a car rental business, was developing an application for actors, and was contemplating a reality show about his life.
Over the past year, the number of so-called “key attacks”—violent assaults on cryptocurrency holders and their families—has increased by 75% worldwide. The highest number of incidents has been reported in France. Additionally, in early January, a tax employee was arrested there on suspicion of leaking information about cryptocurrency holders to criminal organizations.
