"Witnesses in the two-week trial described how Eric Halem and three other men posed as police serving a search warrant to enter a high-rise apartment in Koreatown rented by a teenager who had amassed a small fortune in crypto. Prosecutors said the 17-year-old - sworn in to testify under just his first name, Daniel - gave up a hard drive containing bitcoin after Halem and his alleged accomplices threatened to kill him."
"Halem, 38, who appeared in court in an orange jumpsuit, served 13 years in the LAPD. By the time he left the department in 2022, he had developed lucrative side businesses, including renting luxury cars and launching an app that allowed actors to audition remotely. He was also flirting with the idea of developing a reality show about his life, former associates told The Times."
"In her closing argument last week, Deputy Dist. Atty. Jane Brownstone told jurors that Halem broke the oath he took as a police officer. 'Instead of protecting, he preyed on the community,' she said. 'Instead of serving, he schemed.'"
Eric Halem, a 38-year-old former Los Angeles Police Department officer who served 13 years, was found guilty of kidnapping and robbery by a Los Angeles County Superior Court jury. Halem and three accomplices posed as police executing a search warrant to enter a Koreatown high-rise apartment occupied by a teenager who possessed significant cryptocurrency holdings. The victim, identified only as Daniel, surrendered a hard drive containing bitcoin after being threatened with death. The jury deliberated less than one full day before reaching a guilty verdict. Halem, who left the LAPD in 2022 but remained a reserve officer at the time of the crime, is scheduled for sentencing on March 31. His co-defendants have not yet stood trial.
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