Man Accused of Robbing FBI Vehicle Parked in SF Faces Additional State Charges

A man who federal investigators say stole thousands of dollars worth of tactical gear and explosives from an FBI vehicle parked in San Francisco and then traded some of it for $20 worth of crystal meth is also being prosecuted by the city’s district attorney, KQED has learned.

Gregory Acosta Alvarez, 29, was initially booked at the San Francisco Jail on Aug. 7 and charged in federal court with theft of government property. He also faces felony state charges of second-degree burglary, grand theft and possession of a destructive device, a spokesperson for the San Francisco District Attorney’s Office confirmed on Wednesday.

According to an FBI affidavit filed in U.S. District Court in San Francisco, an FBI agent had parked the vehicle, a white Ford F-150, overnight on Aug. 6 near 442 Natoma St. in the city’s South of Market neighborhood and discovered early the next morning that it had been burglarized.

“FBI Special Agent Welton Pollard became aware of the fact that his FBI-issued vehicle…had been recently burglarized and various pieces of FBI equipment had been stolen,” the affidavit reads.

Pollard reported various pieces of FBI property missing from the truck, including a box of flashbangs, a “gas deployment gun,” a ballistic vest, pole camera, mobile camera floor robot, several saws, a torch kit and a camera floor robot, the affidavit reads.

After canvassing the area, FBI agents and other law enforcement officers obtained surveillance footage that showed a man riding a bicycle toward the vehicle and prying open the lock on the back doors. He then removed a power saw from the truck, investigators say.

Agents later found some of the items abandoned on the street, including an empty box with an orange “1.4 Explosive” label, a Pelican case and a case for an Ogura breaching tool.

San Francisco police found Acosta Alvarez at the Sunset Hotel, where they detained him, searched his room and recovered 23 flashbangs, a pole camera and other items, the affidavit says. Acosta Alvarez allegedly admitted to police he had burglarized the vehicle and traded the ballistic vest and gas gun for crystal meth.

The FBI declined to comment in response to questions from KQED, including whether leaving government-issued tactical gear in a vehicle parked on the street follows agency protocol.

A preliminary hearing in the state case against Acosta Alvarez is set for Aug. 23 in San Francisco Superior Court. If convicted on all the state charges, he faces up to six years and four months in prison. The federal charge carries a separate maximum penalty of 10 years in prison, though a judge could order the sentences to be served concurrently.