A thief who brazenly stole Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem‘s Gucci handbag has been arrested.
As a top government official, Noem and her family are under 24/7 Secret Service protection.
However, Secret Service agents did not notice when the thief stole Noem’s Gucci handbag while she dined with her family on Easter Sunday at The Capital Burger, just a mile from the White House.
Federal agents charged Mario Bustamante-Leiva, 49, with stealing Noem’s Gucci bag, which retails for $4,400 on Gucci’s website.
The designer handbag contained $3,000 in cash, her passport, driver’s license, credit cards, blank checks, apartment keys, medication, makeup bag, and Noem’s Homeland Security access badge. There was also a $600 Louis Vuitton purse inside the handbag.
Noem said the bag was on the floor next to her feet as she sat at a table. She rose from the table and noticed her bag was gone.
She said Bustamante-Leiva used his foot to hook the bag and drag it before throwing a coat over the bag and picking it up. Surveillance video shows a masked man leaving the restaurant with the bag wrapped inside a coat.
“He hooked it with his foot and dragged it a few steps away and dropped a coat over it and took it,” she said.
Noem said she thought her grandkids kicked her leg under the table.
“I think I was a busy grandma with four grandkids under the age of four, and I was taking care of them and feeding them food and enjoying my family.”
Federal agents used cell phone data and other technology to track down the Chilean national who has a long history of organized theft crimes.
Authorities say Bustamante-Leiva is part of a robbery ring working on the East Coast of the United States. Officials say Bustamante-Leiva likely didn’t know who he was robbing.
A second suspect was arrested in Miami on Sunday, April 27.
“This second offender is implicated in a pattern of thefts and robberies with the primary defendant who is accused of the robbery of the Secretary. He was taken into custody earlier today with critical assistance from the Miami Beach, Florida police department and immigration and customs enforcement,” a Secret Service spokesperson said.
ICE officials say Bustamante-Leiva and his accomplice are in the country illegally. They are both part of a robbery ring that targets high-value individuals and their homes.
The White House said both robbery suspects will be deported to a notorious prison in El Salvador.
