Three Tennessee Men Indicted in CA Crypto Home Invasions

Federal prosecutors in California have indicted three men from Tennessee on charges of conspiracy to commit kidnapping and Hobbs Act robbery, accusing them of targeting cryptocurrency holders in violent home invasions across the San Francisco Bay Area and Los Angeles between late November and December 2025.

Elijah Armstrong, 21, Nino Chindavanh, 21, and Jayden Rucker, 25, allegedly traveled from Tennessee to carry out the attacks in San Francisco, Sunnyvale, San Jose, and Los Angeles. According to the indictment filed March 31, 2026, and unsealed following their arrests, the suspects posed as delivery workers to gain entry to victims' homes. Once inside, they restrained residents with firearms, duct tape, and zip ties, assaulting some and forcing at least one victim at gunpoint to access cryptocurrency accounts. Prosecutors stated that coconspirators then transferred approximately 6.5 million dollars in digital assets to wallets they controlled.

Chindavanh was arrested in Sunnyvale on December 22, 2025, after an attempted robbery. Armstrong and Rucker were taken into custody in Los Angeles on December 31. All three remain in federal custody. Armstrong and Rucker appeared in San...