Feds indict three men in violent San Francisco crypto home invasion
Three Tennessee men have been indicted on federal charges connected to a violent spree targeting cryptocurrency millionaires across San Francisco, the South Bay and Los Angeles, federal prosecutors announced Monday.
Elijah Armstrong, 21; Nino Chindavanh, 21 and Jayden Rucker, 25, are accused of traveling from Tennessee to California and posing as delivery workers to gain access to victims' homes, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Northern District of California.
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Fake deliveries, then guns: How a ‘wrench attack' crime ring chased crypto millions from S.F. to L.A.
The indictment, filed March 31, alleges the men and other accomplices used firearms, duct tape and zip ties while trying to force victims to turn over access to cryptocurrency accounts.
In one incident, prosecutors said, a victim was forced at gunpoint to sign in to cryptocurrency accounts so a co-conspirator could transfer about $6.5 million to a wallet controlled by the group.
The trio is accused of crypto robberies in Sunnyvale, San Jose and Los Angeles. Authorities say they also linked the crew to a November home invasion in San Francisco's Mission Dolores neighborhood, where a resident told police he was expecting a package when a man arrived at his home on Nov. 22 carrying a white box.
The man had received multiple calls that day from someone claiming to be a UPS employee, according to police records. The robber pushed his way inside, bound the victim with duct tape, pistol-whipped him and repeatedly threatened to kill him while demanding access to his phone and laptop, authorities said.
The victim told police the robber appeared to be taking instructions by phone from others, including a person whose voice sounded distorted. The victim later told police that about $10 million in Bitcoin and $3 million in Ethereum were taken, authorities said.
After the attack, the victim noticed two boxes of pizza outside his home that he had not ordered.
The pattern repeated in other cities, according to police. A San Jose man told investigators he was confronted in his driveway Dec. 17 by a person with a gun after receiving suspicious food deliveries days earlier and rejecting an offer from people claiming to provide a free power-wash service.
Five days later, Sunnyvale police arrested Chindvanh after a man posing as a DoorDash delivery worker pushed into a home and pointed a gun at a resident.
On New Year's Eve, Los Angeles police arrested Armstrong and Rucker after a Brentwood home invasion in which a man delivering a package allegedly followed a resident inside, pointed a gun at him and bound him with zip ties and duct tape, according to police. The intruders demanded access to the victim's cryptocurrency accounts before fleeing, authorities said.
The alleged attacks resemble a form of crypto theft often called a "wrench attack," in which criminals use physical violence or threats rather than hacking to force victims to surrender passwords or transfer digital assets.
Cybersecurity firm CertiK reported 72 verified wrench attacks globally in 2025, a 75% increase from the year before.
Armstrong and Rucker were arrested in Los Angeles on Dec. 31, prosecutors said. Chindavanh was arrested Dec. 22 in Sunnyvale.
Chindavanh appeared in federal court in San Francisco on April 13, while Armstrong and Rucker made their initial appearances on Monday, according to prosecutors.
All three men remain in federal custody. Armstrong and Rucker are scheduled to appear Tuesday for appointment of counsel before U.S. Magistrate Judge Thomas S. Hixon. Chindavanh next appears for a June 26 status hearing before U.S. District Judge Trina L. Thompson.
The charges include conspiracy to commit robbery and kidnapping, and attempted robbery and kidnapping.
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This story was originally published May 11, 2026 at 7:07 PM.