(WASHINGTON) — Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said Sunday that the Secret Service caught the person who swiped her bag from a Washington restaurant on Easter Sunday while she was dining with her family.
“Thank you to @SecretService @ICE 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,” Noem posted on X.
Authorities said a man wearing a mask took Noem’s bag, which contained $3,000, her DHS access card, passport, makeup bag, apartment key and other items.
Noem said in her post that the person arrested is “a career criminal who has been in our country illegally for years.”
“Unfortunately, so many families in this country have been made victims by crime, and that’s why President Trump is working every single day to make America safe and get these criminal aliens off of our streets,” she said.
Later Sunday, the Secret Service said it had made two arrests in the case — one in Washington and one in Miami.
The Secret Service said the defendant arrested in D.C., who it didn’t identify, is a serial offender and said the theft “had no protective nexus to Secretary Noem or her role as Secretary of Homeland Security.” It also said its investigation revealed alleged potential device and credit card fraud and would maintain jurisdiction over the case.
The person arrested in Miami is believed to be a co-conspirator with the first person in a pattern of thefts and robberies in D.C. and is believed to be the primary defendant in stealing Noem’s bag, the Secret Service said. The person is being held on an immigration detainer and their name will be released when charges are finalized, the Secret Service said.
In an interview on Thursday, Noem said she thought the theft was “professionally done.”
“It was kind of shocking, actually, because it was sitting right by my feet, actually felt my purse, he hooked it with his foot and dragged it a few steps away and dropped a coat over it and took it,” Noem said on “The Vince Show.”
Noem said she wasn’t sure if she was targeted because she was the DHS secretary. She said she felt something brush against her leg where the bag was at her feet, but thought it was one of her grandchildren.
“I think I was a busy grandma with four grandkids under the age of 4, and I was taking care of them and feeding them food and enjoying my family, yeah, but certainly had my purse even touching my feet,” she said.
A DHS official said the secretary had the cash with her because her family was in town and she was treating them to Easter festivities.
“Her entire family was in town including her children and grandchildren — she was using the cash withdrawal to treat her family to dinner, activities, and Easter gifts,” the official said.
ABC News’ Beatrice Peterson contributed to this report.
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