This is rich. The perp who stole the purse from DHS Secretary Kristi Noem while she was out dining with family on Easter has been caught and charged – and it turns out he’s an illegal immigrant.
Here’s more from CNBC news:
A man accused of stealing the purse of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem at a restaurant while she was under Secret Service protection was charged Monday by federal prosecutors with that and two other alleged bag thefts in Washington, D.C., a court filing shows.
The defendant, Mario Bustamente Leiva, is charged with robbery, wire fraud and aggravated identity theft in connection with the three alleged thefts between April 12 and 20, the third of which involved Noem as she dined with her family for Easter at Capital Burger.
“Following each robbery, Bustamente Leiva made fraudulent purchases using the credit cards obtained from the victim of each robbery,” a U.S. Secret Service agent wrote in a complaint against the Chilean national in U.S. District Court in D.C.
Bustamente Leiva, a 49-year-old who prosecutors say is in the country illegally, was arrested Saturday in a D.C. motel.
His alleged accomplice in the April 12 theft was arrested Sunday in South Florida, according to the Secret Service. That second man was not identified.
A criminal complaint says that Secret Service officers who executed a search warrant in the motel room where Bustamente Leiva was arrested found Noem’s purse and wallet, an American Express gift card, more than $3,170 in cash and clothing that appears to match a jacket and sneakers he wore when he allegedly committed the robberies on April 17 and 20.
Noem’s bag contained $3,000 in cash when it was swiped, authorities have said.
The complaint also says that after stealing Noem’s purse, Bustamente Leiva used several of her credit cards to buy food and alcohol at an Italian restaurant, and that he ultimately spent more than $205 in five purchases charged to her American Express cards.
When he was arrested on Saturday at the motel, Bustamente Leiva was taken to a hospital after complaining of alcohol withdrawal, according to the court filing.
After he was cleared from the hospital, he was interviewed by D.C. police and a Secret Service agent.
He “stated that he was an alcoholic and therefore that he has memory issues,” but admitted to stealing Noem’s bag, the complaint said.
After being shown a photo of Noem, he “denied having any prior knowledge of who” Noem was, the complaint said.
Boy did he rob the wrong person – especially being an illegal. It shouldn’t be long before he’s being deported back to his home country, wherever that is (Italy?)…