{"id":135333,"date":"2025-04-27T22:40:29","date_gmt":"2025-04-27T22:40:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/man-arrested-in-theft-of-dhs-chief-kristi-noems-purse-is-in-the-u-s-illegally-official-says-nbc-news\/"},"modified":"2025-04-27T22:40:29","modified_gmt":"2025-04-27T22:40:29","slug":"man-arrested-in-theft-of-dhs-chief-kristi-noems-purse-is-in-the-u-s-illegally-official-says-nbc-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/man-arrested-in-theft-of-dhs-chief-kristi-noems-purse-is-in-the-u-s-illegally-official-says-nbc-news\/","title":{"rendered":"Man arrested in theft of DHS chief Kristi Noem's purse is in the U.S. illegally, official says – NBC News"},"content":{"rendered":"

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The suspect who was arrested Saturday in the theft of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem\u2019s purse<\/a> is in the country illegally, said Ed Martin, the U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia, in an interview with NBC News.
NBC News confirmed the name of the suspect involved in the case, Mario E. Bustamante Leiva, a 49-year-old Chilean national.
It is not believed Bustamante Leiva targeted Noem because she was the Department of Homeland Security chief, Martin said.
\u201cThere is no indication it was because of that. It was frankly, it was a nice looking purse,\u201d Martin said in a recorded telephone interview.
In the call, Martin said Immigration and Customs Enforcement is now involved.
\u201cPresident Trump\u2019s direction to us is we charge these folks that are here illegally and we prosecute them, as well as deport them when need be, you know, as soon as that can happen,\u201d\u00a0Martin said, adding: \u201cWhat I can tell you is he won\u2019t be back on the streets in America.\u201d
The person who took the bag knew what he was doing, Martin said.
\u201cThis was not an amateur. This was a person, a thief, that knew how to do this. You could see how he scouted the room out.\u201d
Martin said a second suspect who also is in the country illegally is being sought by law enforcement.
Matt McCool, an United States Secret Service official overseeing the agency’s Washington field office, alleged Bustamante Leiva is a “serial offender.”
“The investigation revealed alleged criminal activity, including potential device and credit card fraud,” McCool said in a statement. “Given this, the Secret Service will maintain jurisdiction over the case and intends to present its findings to a federal court in coordination with the United States Attorney\u2019s Office for the District of Columbia.”
The Metropolitan Police Department and United States Secret Service announced in a joint statement<\/a> on Sunday that Bustamante Leiva has been charged with two counts of robbery, related to two alleged incidents predating Noem’s bag theft.
In each case, “a suspect approached the victim as they ate in a restaurant, stole their purse from the back of their seat, and fled the scene,” the statement read, adding, “Leiva faces additional charges for an offense being investigated by the United States Secret Service.”
As DHS secretary, Noem receives Secret Service protection.
When asked for comment from the U.S. Secret Service agent that was providing protection for Noem, agency spokesperson Anthony Guglielmi said, \u201cFor the safety of our agents and officers, we are not in a position to confirm or comment at this time.\u00a0Should criminal charges be filed, the Department of Homeland Security will provide public information in accordance with established procedures.\u201d
Noem\u2019s purse was stolen<\/a> when a masked man walked into Capital Burger, a restaurant in D.C., last Sunday night. The man passed two plainclothes Secret Service officers who were sitting at the bar on his way to her table, which was upstairs.
He then sat down next to Noem\u2019s table, where she was eating with her family, and put his foot on her purse to drag it toward himself, according to two sources familiar who viewed the surveillance footage.\u00a0Then, he swiftly picked it up, tucked it under his jacket and walked out, passing the protection agents on his way out.
Noem\u2019s purse contained $3,000 cash, as well as her DHS access badge, her passport, various credit cards, blank checks, a set of keys and her driver\u2019s license.
NBC News asked Noem about the situation on Monday at the White House Easter Egg Roll. She said she couldn\u2019t provide a comment or details.
\u201cI don\u2019t think I can comment on it yet,\u201d she said. \u201cIt\u2019s not resolved yet.\u201d
Laura Strickler is a senior investigative producer and reporter for NBC News. She is based in Washington.
Jonathan Dienst is chief justice contributor for NBC News and chief investigative reporter for WNBC-TV in New York.
Ted Oberg is an investigative reporter at NBC4 Washington.
Rebecca Cohen is a breaking news reporter for NBC News Digital.
© 2025 NBCUniversal Media, LLC<\/p>\n

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ProfileSectionsLocaltvFeaturedMore From NBCFollow NBC News news AlertsThere are no new alerts at this timeThe suspect who was arrested Saturday in the theft of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem\u2019s purse is in the country illegally, said Ed Martin, the U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia, in an interview with NBC News.NBC News confirmed the name […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":135334,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-135333","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-us","entry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/135333","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=135333"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/135333\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/135334"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=135333"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=135333"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=135333"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}