[Former LAPD Officer Found Guilty of Kidnapping Teen in Cryptocurrency Robbery Case] According to The Block, a Los Angeles County Superior Court jury has found former Los Angeles Police Department officer Eric Halem guilty of kidnapping and robbery in connection with a 2024 home invasion case, in which $350,000 worth of Bitcoin was stolen from a 17-year-old teenager. After a two-week trial, prosecutors accused Halem and three other men of impersonating police officers to gain entry into the victim's high-rise apartment in Koreatown. They allegedly threatened to kill the victim and forced them to hand over a hard drive containing Bitcoin. In closing arguments, Halem's defense attorney stated that the victim admitted on the witness stand that their cryptocurrency wealth was obtained through fraud, but this did not alter the robbery charges. Halem served in the LAPD for 13 years and left the department in 2022, though he was still serving as a reserve officer at the time of the incident. He is scheduled to be sentenced on March 31, while the other defendants in the case have yet to stand trial.