This man’s a Noem felony.
The unlawful migrant who was busted for snatching Homeland Safety Secretary Kristi Noem’s Gucci purse was picked up by cops in New York for the same crime only a few weeks earlier — however they let him go along with a desk look ticket and a court docket date.
The NYPD’s warrant squad was attempting to find Chilean nationwide Mario Bustamante-Leiva, 49 — as a result of he by no means confirmed as much as court docket — when he allegedly ripped off Noem throughout Easter dinner together with her household at a Washington, DC, burger bar, regulation enforcement sources instructed The Submit.
After swiping Noem’s purse — which contained $3,000 money, her passport, pockets and authorities ID — he hopped a bus and sidled as much as the bar at Angolo Ristorante Italiano in DC, the place he boozed it up till midnight and rang up $205.87 on the DHS honcho’s American Categorical, in response to paperwork launched by prosecutors Monday.
The feds additionally launched surveillance photos of Bustamante-Leiva carrying a white face masks and a baseball cap earlier than and after he allegedly stole Noem’s $4,000 luxurious bag from underneath her toes at The Capital Burger. One other image allegedly confirmed the accused serial thief at Angolo — Noem’s Gucci bag clearly in view — whereas chatting on the mobile phone.
The high-profile theft was the fourth he pulled off in eight days, authorities mentioned. He copped to stealing Noem’s bag, however mentioned he didn’t know who she was when he snatched the expensive bag from the ground whereas she dined, in response to court docket docs.
Bustamante-Leiva’s rap sheet additionally features a 2021 shoplifting arrest in Utah and a headline-grabbing bust throughout the pond in London in 2015, the place he was arrested for a months-long theft spree and charged with palming $28,000 in telephones, wallets, and computer systems.
He landed on NYPD’s radar on March 2 after he swiped a fanny pack from a Occasions Sq. dosa store and racked up $1,200 in bank card expenses in simply 20 minutes, in response to the sufferer, a world pupil from India.
The sufferer instructed The Submit that he forgot his bag on the eatery for only a few minutes, and it was gone when he got here again. Good Samaritans identified the thief, whom he described as a “little previous man” carrying a COVID masks.
Cops swooped on Bustamante-Leiva in about half-hour, however the harm was already performed, and the coed had tons of unauthorized expenses on his card, he mentioned.
The sufferer, who lives in Jersey Metropolis and requested to not be named, mentioned he’s livid that Bustamante-Leiva was let go along with only a desk look ticket after being arrested.
“That’s insane. I don’t know the way he was let loose after that with none purpose,” the coed mentioned.
“I imply, placing in a lot effort after which coming to the States and experiencing one thing like that intrigued my frightened facet.”
He mentioned he’s nonetheless out $500 that the bank card firm by no means reimbursed him for.
After his arrest, NYPD cops gave Bustamante-Leiva, who mentioned he lived within the Bronx, a desk look ticket on fourth-degree felony grand larceny expenses and launched him. When he didn’t present up for his court docket date, officers went on the lookout for him, regulation enforcement sources mentioned.
New York’s sanctuary legal guidelines meant that the NYPD was not allowed to report him to federal immigration authorities, regardless of being within the nation illegally.
“Years in the past, individuals can be held on ICE detainers if any person was identified to be within the nation unlawfully and dedicated crimes,” former Manhattan prosecutor Mark A. Bederow fumed. “That might be a no brainer maintain … these sorts of crimes wouldn’t be dedicated if the insurance policies had been stronger. That’s simply the fact.”
It’s unclear whether or not Bustamante-Leiva’s earlier busts confirmed up on his felony document when Manhattan cops arrested him and let him go.
It’s frequent for the NYPD handy out tickets and court docket dates to individuals arrested for lower-level theft, even when it’s a felony.
Bustamante-Leiva and his confederate within the Noem bag snatch, Cristian Rodrigo Montecino-Sanzana, are believed to be half of a big East Coast theft group, sources mentioned.
The 2 males allegedly labored collectively and have dedicated related theft schemes throughout the US, sources mentioned.
Bustamante-Leiva instructed investigators that he’s an alcoholic and that he has reminiscence issues, however he clearly remembered taking the Gucci bag. He mentioned he saved the pockets and the purse — however dumped the opposite contents within the trash, in response to docs.
He claimed to don’t know who Noem was and didn’t bear in mind who he stole from.
Along with his splurge on the DC red-sauce joint, feds accused Bustamante-Leiva of utilizing the ill-gotten good points from a string of different robberies close by within the previous days – once more blowing different individuals’s money to purchase booze, together with a bottle of Josh cabernet sauvignon at a DC grocery store.
He additionally purchased reward playing cards price tons of of {dollars} with bank cards and money from stolen luggage, prosecutors mentioned.
In these incidents – two on April 17, at a DC espresso store and a Westin Resort restaurant, and one at one other restaurant on April 12 — Bustamante-Leiva demonstrated his sticky-fingered prowess by slyly approaching his victims and slipping luggage from their chairs, or utilizing his legs to covertly inch their belongings nearer to him, safety footage confirmed.
Within the April 12 theft, he was cautious to slide a jacket over his arm earlier than approaching his sufferer, and with the assistance of an confederate, allegedly swiped the bag from his sufferer and hid it underneath his coat earlier than strolling off.
He used bank cards from that theft for stays at a Motel 6 and a High quality Inn over the next days, the paperwork alleged.
Bustamante-Leiva was taken into custody in Washington, DC, on Saturday, whereas his alleged confederate was nabbed in Miami on Sunday.
Further reporting by Priscilla DeGregory, Emily Crane, and Alex Oliveira.
