News/Commentary

On camera: Illegal alien who heisted Noem’s purse sucked down booze on her credit card

April 29, 2025 | | Print Article

Court documents and surveillance images revealed that Kristi Noem’s alleged purse snatcher charged over $200 on the Homeland Security Secretary’s credit card.

Saturday in Washington, D.C., 49-year-old Chilean national Mario Bustamente-Leiva was arrested as the primary suspect in the Easter Sunday theft of Noem’s purse. After a suspected accomplice was nabbed in Miami, Florida, a court filing from the U.S. Secret Service revealed how the main suspect was living it up on food and alcohol at an Italian restaurant within minutes of the theft.

The statement of facts supporting charges of wire fraud, aggravated identity theft, and robbery brought against Bustamente-Leiva included surveillance images taken at D.C.’s Angolo Ristorante Italiano, allegedly featuring the suspect near a purse matching the description of Noem’s. It was at the restaurant that $205.87 had been charged to the secretary’s credit card, also seen out on the table in footage of the suspect.

Within the court filing, the Secret Service detailed, with accompanying surveillance images, the suspect’s path from the Capital Burger restaurant, where Noem was dining with her family, to the Italian eatery via bus.

The filing similarly documented the suspect’s alleged involvement in the theft of two other credit cards that were used to make combined purchases of over $900 prior to the Easter theft. In one instance, Bustamente-Leiva was accused of using a stolen credit card to purchase a Visa gift card worth $507.95 that was then used to get a room at a Motel 6 and an Alexandria Quality Inn in addition to a purchase at a 7-Eleven.

Following the alleged theft of Noem’s Gucci purse, which was said to have contained roughly $3,000 in cash, keys, makeup, medication, blank checks, a driver’s license, passport and her DHS access badge, the illegal alien suspect was said to have stuck around the restaurant until about midnight before departing and “falling asleep at an outdoor table, where he remained until approximately 7:30 a.m. the following morning.”

The Secret Service also detailed that early Saturday morning, the day before Noem’s purse was stolen, Bustamente-Leiva called police to report that he had been the victim of a theft. Having fallen asleep on a bench in Silver Spring, Maryland, the Chilean national awoke after 2 a.m. to discover his bag of belongings was missing.

“BUSTAMENTE LEIVA advised that in the bag were several pieces of clothing, including shoes, his Chilean passport, and over $1,000 in cash,” the court filing detailed. “BUSTAMENTE LEIVA was somewhat uncooperative and smelled heavily of an alcoholic beverage.”

The filing also contended that the suspect had admitted to the theft of Noem’s bag and explained how he’d used his feet to slide it out from underneath the chair where the secretary had placed it before fleeing the scene, discarding all its contents in the trash save for the wallet.

Bustamente-Leiva’s record includes three years’ incarceration in the United Kingdom for stealing nearly $30,000 worth of computers, phones, and wallets over a five-month span. Additionally, the Daily Mail reported that investigators suspect the illegal alien to be part of a “wider robbery organization terrorizing the East Coast.”

Kevin Haggerty
Latest posts by Kevin Haggerty (see all)

Comment

We have no tolerance for comments containing violence, racism, profanity, vulgarity, doxing, or discourteous behavior. If a comment is spam, instead of replying to it please click the ∨ icon below and to the right of that comment. Thank you for partnering with us to maintain fruitful conversation.

Latest Articles