Three Indicted Over ‘Brazen’ Crypto Wrench Attack Spree in California

Three Tennessee men person been federally indicted connected robbery, kidnapping, and conspiracy charges related to an alleged multi-million dollar cryptocurrency theft cognition targeting victims crossed California.

According to a property merchandise from the U.S. Department of Justice, Elijah Armstrong, Nino Chindavanh, and Jayden Rucker traveled from Tennessee to California and posed arsenic transportation persons to summation entree to victims' residences successful San Francisco, San Jose, Sunnyvale, and Los Angeles.

Prosecutors said the men utilized firearms, duct tape, and zip ties to battle their victims, binding and restraining them to unit disclosure of cryptocurrency relationship information.

In 1 November incident, a San Francisco unfortunate expecting a bundle was approached by a robber carrying a achromatic container astatine his Mission Dolores vicinity home. The unfortunate was allegedly bound with duct tape, pistol-whipped and threatened earlier being forced to transportation $10 cardinal successful Bitcoin and $3 cardinal successful Ethereum. Another incidental cited by prosecutors saw a unfortunate robbed of $6.5 cardinal successful cryptocurrency astatine gunpoint.

Armstrong and Rucker were arrested successful Los Angeles connected December 31, 2025, portion Chindavanh was arrested successful Sunnyvale connected December 22, 2025. The charges transportation maximum sentences ranging from 20 years for robbery and attempted kidnapping counts to beingness imprisonment for conspiracy to perpetrate kidnapping, on with fines of $250,000 for each number of Conspiracy to Commit Hobbs Act Robbery and Conspiracy to Commit Kidnapping.

The alleged strategy drew beardown condemnation from national prosecutors and instrumentality enforcement officials, who characterized it arsenic some blase and dangerous.

"These individuals, arsenic alleged, terrorized their victims successful the hopes of stealing immense sums of cryptocurrency," said United States Attorney Craig H. Missakian. "The strategy was not lone sophisticated, it was brazen, violent, and dangerous."

FBI Acting Special Agent successful Charge Matt Cobo called the alleged conspiracy a “calculated scheme,” adding that the indictments underscored the FBI’s “unwavering committedness to protecting our communities from convulsive and organized transgression activity."

Crypto "wrench attacks"

The Tennessee lawsuit reflects a broader surge successful carnal attacks targeting cryptocurrency holders, commonly known arsenic "wrench attacks" successful the industry.

According to information from cybersecurity steadfast CertiK, 72 verified incidents occurred globally successful 2025, representing a 75% summation from the erstwhile year. These attacks impact criminals utilizing carnal unit oregon threats to compel victims to transportation integer assets, exploiting the irreversible quality of blockchain transactions. The attacks person go progressively sophisticated, with perpetrators often conducting extensive surveillance of high-net-worth crypto investors earlier striking.

Law enforcement organizations astir the satellite are cracking down connected “wrench attacks,” with 88 charged successful France implicit a drawstring of crypto kidnappings, pursuing incidents including the kidnapping and mutilation of Ledger co-founder David Balland, a location penetration effort targeting Binance France’s CEO, and the abduction of a magistrate and her mother for a crypto ransom.