Authorities have arrested two illegal aliens for stealing Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Chief Kristi Noem’s purse.
The thieves stole Noem’s luxury handbag at a restaurant where she shared an Easter meal with her family.
Cristian Rodrigo Montecino-Sanzana was charged in Miami for the brazen theft at Capital Burger.
The bust came one day after Mario Bustamante-Leiva was arrested in Washington, D.C.
Noem’s bag contained $3,000 in cash, her passport, and her DHS badge.
In a recent interview with podcaster Vince Coglianese, Noem said the “professionally done” theft involved some careful footwork.
“It was kind of shocking, actually, because it was sitting right by my feet,” Noem recounted.
“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.”
Surveillance video of the brazen theft shows a masked man walk past Secret Service agents who were seated at a bar inside the Washington D.C. restaurant.
The suspect then sits down next to Noem’s table and uses his feet to grab the purse.
Bustamante-Leiva later used Noem’s stolen credit card to buy $200 of food and alcohol at another restaurant.
He was charged Monday with aggravated identity theft, robbery, and fraud.
The man was also charged over two past robberies in which “a suspect approached the victim as they ate in a restaurant, stole their purse from the back of their seat, and fled the scene.”
Noem called Bustamante-Leiva a “career criminal” as she thanked the authorities for their swift response.
Thank you to @SecretService @ICEgov and our law enforcement partners for finding and arresting the criminal who stole my bag on Easter Sunday as I shared a meal with my family at a Washington DC restaurant.
This individual is a career criminal who has been in our country…
— Secretary Kristi Noem (@Sec_Noem) April 27, 2025
His accomplice, Montecino-Sanzana, was charged with driver’s license/possession of stolen or fictitious identification in Florida.
He is “implicated in a pattern of thefts and robberies with the primary defendant,” according to the Secret Service.
Both men are from Chile.
According to the New York Post, Montecino-Sanzana was released into the U.S. in January 2021 despite being issued a notice of “expedited removal.”
While both suspects are illegal aliens, the U.S. attorney in D.C., Eric Martin, says this was a crime of opportunity.
Martin said it does not appear to be related to Noem’s government role.
“There is no indication it was because of that,” Martin told NBC News.
“It was, frankly, it was a nice-looking purse.”
