The moments leading up to the capture of a man involved in a crime wave reveal a saga of events leading to the theft of a handbag belonging to Kristi Noem, the US homeland security secretary. A high-end Gucci shoulder bag abandoned underneath a chair in a fast-food joint was simply too tempting for a thief on the prowl. With a veil of anonymity provided by a Covid mask and a dark cap, the opportunistic man snaked his foot around the bag’s strap, stealthily reeled it over and quickly vanished into the vibrant night of Washington DC.
The individual’s fortune took a major turn when authorities identified him as Mario Bustamante Leiva. Contrarily to what he might have thought, he had stolen from one of the most influential individuals in the Trump administration. Moreover, official reports suggest that Leiva was involved in a series of criminal episodes, with this theft being only one of three that took place within a nine-day period in the city.
Leiva, a man identified as a Chilean national with no fixed residence, was apprehended recently. He supposedly confessed to his involvement in the bag theft. His thieving skills, it is claimed, were amassed during his time on streets of London about ten years earlier – a reputation solidified with his arrest in relation to Ms Noem’s case.
Now 49 years old, Leiva’s past comprises a stint in prison due to a spate of robberies committed in the UK. These crimes, taking place within a five-month timeframe, saw the theft of high-end phones, wallets, and laptops from high-end premises such as bars and coffee shops in the upscale parts of London caushing a loss of a whopping £21,000 ($27,800).
Leiva’s past eventually caught up to him in December 2014, when he walked into a pub on the northern side of London Bridge. In his possession was a pilfered iPod – an item that led to his capture. A father of three, Leiva confessed to as many as 22 counts of theft and was subsequently handed a three-year prison sentence.
Details surrounding the longevity of Leiva’s prison time remain murky. Nevertheless, reports assert his legal entry into the US occurred in 2021, although he later breached his admission conditions. It’s worth noting that Chile is part of the US visa waiver program, allowing its citizens 90-day entry to the States. But whether Leiva took advantage of this facility remains unclear.
Leiva’s presence was affirmed in Washington, DC as of April 12 this year. During a dinner at a public restaurant, he carefully removed a lady’s purse from the chair behind her, cloaking his actions with his jacket as he left. The plot thickens as information suggests he was working in tandem with another individual who helped screen the theft.
The duo then reportedly visited a grocery store, where an associate bought a £377 ($500) gift card with the stolen credit card. This event occurred a mere five days before Leiva supposedly made his way to the downtown Westin Hotel in DC, adeptly stealing a woman’s purse as he brushed past her chair while she was dining with her family.
Prior to visiting the hotel, Leiva allegedly stole a wallet or purse-sized item from a tan shoulder bag at a coffee shop situated just one block away. Post-theft, he allegedly made two purchases from the grocery store. A bottle of fine Cabernet Sauvigon worth £9 ($12) was procured, followed by a £300 ($400) gift card, both likely acquired with stolen money.
On April 19, Leiva was noted to be in Silver Spring, Maryland, where he reported a robbery. He claimed to have been asleep on a park bench when he was robbed by a gang of five men who took his bag containing over £755 ($1,000) in cash along with his Chilean passport. Law enforcement reported his lackluster cooperation during their encounter and recognized a strong odor of alcohol about him.
The next day saw Kristi Noem and her family, including her grandchildren, enjoying dinner at a restaurant that lays halfway between the White House and the U.S. Capitol. Inside Noem’s handbag was a startling amount of cash, roughly £2,270 ($3,000), intended to foot the bill for dinner and purchase Easter gifts for her loved ones. During this incident, little did she know, her handbag was about to be stolen.
It was the Gucci-designed shoulder bag of Kristi Noem that attracted Leiva’s attention. The establishment, with its network of close-set tables and subdued lighting, allowed him to sidle his chair towards Noem, use his leg to reposition her bag and quietly take his leave with the stolen goods. This heist was more about the appeal of the luxury bag than the influential owner.
During his interrogation, Leiva claimed to have discarded most of the handbag’s contents, including Noem’s driving license, government ID, keys, and medication, but confessed to keeping the purse and the cash it held. Using the stolen cards, Leiva then purportedly paid over £151 ($200) for a meal and drinks at another restaurant. He left the purse and handbag in plain sight of a CCTV camera while he dined at the bar.
Leiva was finally arrested at a motel in the northern part of Washington DC, approximately a 35-minute bus ride away from the scene of Noem’s theft. Court documents indicate that Leiva confessed to the theft of Noem’s bag, but could not recall the others due to an alleged alcoholic memory loss. After a heated altercation with a motel staffer, he was transferred to a hospital for alcohol withdrawal. The charges levied against him encompass wire fraud, robbery, and aggravated identity theft, linked to the triad of thefts.