Man charged with stealing equipment from FBI truck then trading it for meth: Court docs

A man in San Francisco has been charged with breaking into an FBI vehicle and stealing thousands of dollars in government equipment, including flash-bang grenades and a ballistic vest that he later allegedly traded for drugs.

Gregory Acosta Alvarez was charged with theft of government property in a federal court on August 9.

According to federal court documents, on the morning of Aug. 7, an FBI special agent discovered that the government-issued Ford 150 truck he had parked on Natoma Street in San Francisco had been broken into. Missing from the truck were more than a dozen pieces of equipment, including multiple types of saws and surveillance equipment, a torch kit, a gas deployment gun, a camouflage ballistic vest and ballistic plates with FBI markings, a box of flash-bang grenades and for good measure, a defibrillator.

A review of surveillance footage showed Acosta Alvarez riding by the truck on a bicycle around 12:30 a.m. on August 7, then dismounting to commit the burglary. Further surveillance camera footage showed Acosta Alvarez then riding off with the stolen goods to a hotel less than a quarter mile away.

On the afternoon of August 7, as San Francisco Police Department officers were at the hotel speaking with the manager, Acosta Alvarez walked into the lobby and was promptly arrested.

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Thousands of dollars worth of equipment traded for $20 of drugs

A search of his room revealed the bicycle that had been seen in surveillance footage of the burglary, as well as several of the stolen items, among them 23 flash-bang grenades and the defibrillator. Still missing, however, was the gas gun and the ballistic vest, valued at approximately $1,500. During questions, Acosta Alvarez admitted to officers that he had traded those items to someone earlier in the day for $20 worth of crystal methamphetamine.

Acosta Alvarez is currently being held in San Francisco County jail without bail and is charged there with burglary, grand theft, possession of stolen property, and drug possession.

Max Hauptman is a Trending Reporter for USA TODAY. He can be reached at MHauptman@gannett.com