Man Arrested for Stealing DHS Secretary Noem’s Purse

Former South Dakota Governor and current Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem's purse snatcher has been snatched up by authorities.

Noem had her Gucci bag stolen while having dinner with her family in a Washington D.C. restaurant on Easter.

Dakota News Now reports there were a number of different items inside her purse at the time it was taken. Some of the items inside included, her wallet, driver’s license, apartment keys, passport, department security badge and about $3,000 in walking around money.

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Noem came under some scrutiny for having such a large sum of money in her purse at the time it was stolen.

The Homeland Security Department told CNN that Noem had such a sizeable ammount of money on her at the time of the crime to pay for Easter dinner for her family, buy her children and grandchildren a few gifts and to pay for some other activies planned for the day.

According to Dakota News Now, Mario Bustamante Leiva, age 49, a Chilean national living in the U.S. illegally, was arrested on Saturday, ( April 26), in connection with the crime. Bustamante Leiva is being charged with wire fraud, identity theft, and robbery related to three purse snatchings and unauthorized use of victim credit cards.

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It's possible even more arrests could be made as authorities continue to investigate the case. It's beleved that  Noem's incident could be connected to a theft ring that recently was targeting the District’s Penn Quarter.

The Dakota News Now article says it's still not clear if Noem was specifically targeted, or if the incident was just a random crime. However, evidence is beginning to point in the direction of the incident being part of a much larger group of theft crimes currently underway in the D.C. area.

Source: Dakota News Now