A man has been charged with breaking into an FBI vehicle parked on a San Francisco street and stealing government property, including flash-bang grenades and surveillance equipment, which he then swapped for $20 worth of drugs, federal prosecutors said this week.
Gregory Acosta Alvarez was arrested after allegedly burglarizing an FBI-issued Ford F-150 truck parked in the SoMa neighborhood on Aug. 7. Authorities say Alvarez stole dozens of items, including 23 flash-bang grenades, a gas deployment gun and a ballistic vest. The flash bangs were worth about $100 each; body armor he is accused of taking was valued at $1,500, according to an FBI affidavit.
Acosta Alvarez told officers he traded the stolen ballistic vest and gas gun to another individual for $20 worth of methamphetamine.
According to an affidavit in a criminal complaint, surveillance footage shows a man identified as Acosta Alvarez using a crowbar to break into the truck around 12:30 a.m. He is seen removing items and fleeing on a bicycle.
Aided by the surveillance footage, police located Acosta Alvarez at a hotel not far from where the truck was burglarized. During a search of his room, officers recovered many of the stolen items, including the flash-bang grenades and surveillance equipment.
Acosta Alvarez faces federal charges of theft of government property valued at more than $1,000. If convicted, he could face up to 10 years in prison.
He was listed in San Francisco jail custody Tuesday after his arrest on suspicion of second-degree burglary, two counts of grand theft of personal property, possession of a destructive device, receiving or buying stolen property, second-degree commercial burglary, trespass by entering and occupying, possession of unlawful drug paraphernalia, possession of a controlled substance and possession of burglar tools, according to jail records.
The FBI did not immediately respond to a request for comment Tuesday.