Masked Thief Who Lifted DHS Secretary Kristi | Political News

The mask-wearing thief who stole Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Kristi Noem’s purse on Easter, which contained her DHS badge, passport, driver’s license, cell phone, and $3,000 in money, has been arrested. The New York Post first reported the data completely:

The masked bandit who stole Homeland Security Kristi Noem’s dear Gucci bag containing $3,000 in money and different personal objects has been arrested, sources informed The Post Saturday. 

Noem, 53, was on an Easter outing along with her household at The Capital Burger in Washington, DC, when the hooded thief stole the posh shoulder bag, which additionally contained her driver’s license, passport, DHS badge and condominium keys on April 20.

Local Washington, D.C., NBC4 News picked up the story, and alluded to a second suspect being sought:

A second particular person is being nonetheless being sought, the identical law enforcment sources informed News4 and NBC News.

[…]

The suspect was a white male sporting darkish clothes, a dark-colored baseball hat and a white N95 masks, in accordance with two sources conversant in the surveillance footage.

That particular person entered Capital Burger at 7:55 p.m., sat close to Noem’s desk, scooted nearer and used his foot to slip her purse towards him, in accordance with surveillance footage seen by law enforcement, sources mentioned. Within minutes, the person picked up Noem’s purse, positioned it below his jacket, walked out of the restaurant and down the road, they mentioned.

While some reviews alleged that Noem might have been focused as a result of she is the DHS Secretary, in accordance with NBC News, D.C. Metro police data indicated that one other girl was focused at a close by eatery three days previous to the theft of Noem’s purse, with a related MO:.

NBC News found the similarities within the two incidents after requesting reviews of thefts within the neighborhood from the DC Metropolitan Police Department.

It’s not clear if the 2 incidents are linked, however the sufferer within the first purse snatching believes they’re.

“I’m shocked at the similarity of the crime,” she informed NBC News when she described how her purse was stolen Thursday at a restaurant within the downtown Westin Hotel.

My colleague Brandon Morse contemplated how the Secret Service may have dropped the ball on this, to permit a suspect to get close enough to steal the purse. Noem herself informed podcast host Vince Coglianese quickly after the incident that the job was “professionally performed“:

“It was kind of shocking, actually, because it was sitting right by my feet. 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,” the 53-year-old recounted to podcaster Vince Coglianese Wednesday.

“I thought it was my grandkids kicking me in the legs, but it was very professionally done,” she added on the “Vince” podcast. “It tells me that this happens all the time to people, and that they live in communities where this is a danger and it reaffirms why I’m here.”

NBC News obtained info from a source on the restaurant that Noem had two, plain-clothes Secret Service members watching Noem and her household from the close by bar within the restaurant. 

 The Secret Service is handling the investigation. As of this writing, the identify of the suspect in custody has not been launched, and no fees have been filed.