A man suspected of stealing Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem’s purse has reportedly been arrested, according to the U.S. attorney in Washington, D.C.
What’s more, reports say that the male suspect who U.S. Attorney Ed Martin has not officially identified is in the country illegally, the New York Post reported, adding that a second migrant suspect is still at large.
The suspects stole “Noem’s pricey Gucci bag containing $3,000 in cash and other personal items,” The Post said.
Noem, 53, was on an Easter outing with her family at The Capital Burger in Washington, D.C., on April 20 when a masked thief stole her luxury shoulder bag, which also contained her driver’s license, passport, DHS badge, and apartment keys.
The suspect was arrested by DC Metro Police and the Secret Service, sources told The Post.
The suspect, believed to be part of a large East Coast robbery crew, is expected to appear in court early next week as law enforcement searches for his accomplice. Officials are also seeking a second suspect, who is reportedly an illegal immigrant as well.
Martin told a news outlet that there is no indication that Noem was targeted because of who she is.
“There is no indication it was because of that,” Martin told NBC News.
“It was frankly, it was a nice-looking purse. This 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,” Martin added.
The bag—retailing for $4,400 according to the label’s website—was lying on the ground beside the former South Dakota governor’s table when it was taken, per a police complaint. Inside was a Louis Vuitton Clemence pouch, valued at $600.
Security footage shows a white man wearing an N95 mask, dark pants, a fur-collared jacket, and a ball cap lifting the DHS official’s bag before leaving the restaurant about a mile from the White House.
While the DC U.S. Attorney’s Office has yet to identify the suspect in custody, Blaze Media correspondent Julio Rojas reported on X that “a law enforcement source” in the nation’s capital told him the alleged thief is Mario Bustamante Leiva, a Chilean national who was previously arrested for similar criminal activity in London in 2015.
BREAKING: A law enforcement source in D.C. has confirmed to me the man accused of stealing DHS Sec. Noem’s purse is Mario Bustamante Leiva. U.S. Attorney for D.C. Ed Martin has said the man is in the U.S. illegally.
— Julio Rosas (@Julio_Rosas11) April 27, 2025
A Daily Mail article from 2015 says Bustamante Leiva is Chilean… pic.twitter.com/6c1h6nPTsL
Conservative Brief could not confirm if the suspect currently in custody is Bustamante Leiva, however.
The Post noted that the suspect was seen looking around the restaurant before taking Noem’s bag, covering it with his jacket, and quickly leaving the premises, according to sources who described surveillance video.
“It was kind of shocking, actually, because it was sitting right by my feet. I actually felt my purse — he hooked with his foot and drug it a few steps away and dropped a coat over it and took it,” Noem, who oversees the Secret Service, US Customs and Border Protection and the Coast Guard, told podcaster Vince Coglianese.
“I thought it was my grandkids kicking me in the legs, but it was very professionally done,” she added. “It tells me that this happens all the time to people, and that they live in communities where this is a danger and it reaffirms why I’m here.”
The Secret Service secures the secretary, similar to the president and other high-ranking officials. It is unclear whether the detail was present inside the restaurant during the robbery.
Martin assured that the alleged robbers will never enter the country again now that U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement is involved in the case.
