A former LAPD officer has been convicted over a “$5 wrench attack” after stealing $350,000 in cryptocurrency from a 17-year-old during a home invasion in 2024.
The victim, who testified under his first name, Daniel, admitted on the stand to having obtained his crypto holdings through fraud.
Halem’s attorney, Megan Maitia, described her client and his alleged associates as “knuckleheads,” 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.
In text messages shared after the robbery, Halem said he was monitoring police traffic and that “Someone I know fed wise called me.”
Halem’s co-defendants have yet to stand trial and maintain their innocence.
Crypto “wrench attacks”
