Three men from Tennessee were accused Friday of a violent robbery spree that targeted cryptocurrency owners in San Francisco, San Jose and Sunnyvale, with prosecutors saying the group kidnapped and assaulted victims while posing as delivery workers. A federal grand jury indicted Elijah Armstrong, 21, Nino Chindavanh, 21, and Jayden Rucker, 25, all of whom are now in federal custody.
One victim was forced at gunpoint to sign into his cryptocurrency accounts and transfer about $6.5 million to a wallet controlled by the co-conspirators, prosecutors said. Chindavanh was arrested Dec. 22, 2025, in Sunnyvale, and Armstrong and Rucker were taken into custody days later in Los Angeles. Armstrong and Rucker are scheduled to appear in court Tuesday, while Chindavanh is due back in June.
The case, investigated by the FBI and police departments in San Francisco, San Jose, Sunnyvale and Los Angeles, centers on what prosecutors describe as a coordinated trip from Tennessee to the Bay Area to carry out the alleged crimes. In one account, a victim was bound and restrained so he could be forced to divulge account information, and prosecutors said firearms, duct tape and zip ties were used during the assaults.
U.S. Attorney Craig Missakian said the defendants “traveled from Tennessee to commit the alleged crimes and posed as delivery persons to gain access or attempt to gain access to the victims’ residences,” adding that they used weapons and restraints to force a victim to reveal account information. He said the trio “terrorized their victims in the hopes of stealing vast sums of cryptocurrency” and called the scheme “sophisticated, brazen, violent and dangerous.”
The arrests and indictment land as cryptocurrency remains a lucrative target for violent crews willing to turn digital wealth into cash by force. Prosecutors say the alleged robbery spree spanned multiple Bay Area cities and was built on deception, speed and intimidation — a combination that made the theft possible and the investigation urgent. FBI San Francisco assistant special agent in charge Matt Cobo said the case underscores the bureau’s commitment to stopping organized violent crime and that the FBI will not tolerate criminals who come into communities to terrorize residents.
