Arrest made in the theft of Kristi Noem's purse and thousands in cash, source says
Source: CNN
Arrest made in the theft of Kristi Noem's purse and thousands in cash, source says
By Josh Campbell, Kit Maher and John Miller, CNN
2 minute read
Updated 2:12 AM EDT, Sun April 27, 2025
Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem on March 27, 2025 in Bogota, Colombia. (Photo by Alex Brandon-Pool/Getty Images) Alex Brandon/Pool/Getty Images/File
(CNN) -- An arrest has been made in the investigation of the theft of a high-end Gucci bag belonging to DHS Secretary Kristi Noem, a law enforcement source familiar with the investigation tells CNN. ... One person is in custody and multiple additional arrests are expected in a theft ring recently targeting Washington, DC's, Penn Quarter area, the source said.
Authorities have not yet released specific details about the man's identity, but the arrest came after the US Secret Service launched an investigation to find the perpetrator who stole her bag as she ate dinner with her family on Easter Sunday.
{snip}
As CNN previously reported, surveillance footage of the incident at The Capital Burger restaurant in Washington, DC, showed the suspect purposefully moving close to Noem as he zeroed in on her Gucci bag near her feet, a second law enforcement source said.
The thief, dressed in dark clothing, sat down at an empty table next to Noem with his back facing her and used his left foot to slide the bag away, the source said. He surveyed the restaurant before eventually picking up the bag, covering it with his jacket and leaving.
Only when Noem got up from the table did she realize her bag was missing, the source said.
Items inside the bag included a Louis Vuitton Clemence wallet, Noems drivers license, medication, apartment keys, passport, DHS access badge, makeup bag, blank checks, and about $3,000 in cash, multiple sources said.
{snip}
Read more: https://www.cnn.com/2025/04/26/politics/kristi-noem-bag-thief-arrested/index.html
Why does Kristi Noem get Secret Service protection?

NJCher
(39,877 posts)What is she doing as head of the agency that is supposed to protect us?
SheltieLover
(66,955 posts)I find it equally odd that her family eats with her. Of course, if she has kids, they don't have a choice. Poor kids..
Kid Berwyn
(20,100 posts)Another happy custom she must never have heard about.
IronLionZion
(48,574 posts)
Grins
(8,283 posts)SheltieLover
(66,955 posts)Who the hell eats a burger for Easter? Not that there is anything wrong with doing so, mind you, but with her trying to present this all-important image...
littlemissmartypants
(27,307 posts)Will weigh in on this as soon as he finishes applying his concealer.
hlthe2b
(109,301 posts)
I say 8 months (if she is there that long)...

Skittles
(163,655 posts)don't these people have any real friends who can clue them in?!
wolfie001
(4,721 posts)That's what hate does to a person.
NJCher
(39,877 posts)Stop working on themselves, do they?
Only one word for this photo: grotesque.
yardwork
(66,341 posts)Why are all these women disfiguring themselves to look like this?
It's so ugly.
Irish_Dem
(68,774 posts)Trump's fantasy of what women should look like.
Trump Tramps.
yardwork
(66,341 posts)Trump must hate women if this is his ideal.
I notice that Melania has resisted it. She definitely gets work but not these weird face implants and lips.
Irish_Dem
(68,774 posts)they look like Trump Barbie dolls. I call it the Trump Tramp look.
These women go through a lot of expense, pain, disfigurement to meet the Trump
standard. They literally look misshapen and distorted. If you look at some
of the before pictures, these were attractive women.
The plastic facial and body surgery, botox, dental surgery, hair extensions,
make up, etc is all time consuming and in some cases quite painful.
Melania has had quite a bit of work done. Her boob job is grotesque.
But yes she is not near as mutilated as some of the others.
Ivanka didn't go too much overboard either.
But she does not look the same as prior to surgery.
Marcuse
(8,318 posts)niyad
(123,434 posts)TommyT139
(1,286 posts)https://www.msn.com/en-us/fashion-and-style/fashion-trends/why-kimberly-guilfoyle-has-the-worst-case-of-mar-a-lago-face/ar-AA1DoJqP
I'm not judging (out loud, anyway)...but it's an actual thing. Searching the phrase brings up lots more discussion, including from plastic surgeons.

niyad
(123,434 posts)could think was "stepford wives".
niyad
(123,434 posts)OMGWTF
(4,683 posts)That's what hate does to you.
twodogsbarking
(13,457 posts)LudwigPastorius
(12,286 posts)

dchill
(42,139 posts)Bernardo de La Paz
(54,951 posts)sop
(13,842 posts)Walleye
(39,803 posts)JohnnyRingo
(19,859 posts)Either because it was spent, or....
Untraceable cash money is the first thing people declare to pad a theft report to an insurance company.
Walleye
(39,803 posts)Im trying to imagine what it would be like if I told the police my bag had $3000 in cash and was stolen. I think that I would be the one arrested and I am a white woman. Can you imagine a black person going to the police and saying somebody stole my bag with $3000 cash in it and they said who was to buy their grandchildren goodies. Who would believe that?
JohnnyRingo
(19,859 posts)Or one dealing in stolen goods.
Cash is king in crime circles. That's why they don't print $500 bills anymore.
Irish_Dem
(68,774 posts)Harker
(16,116 posts)with her makeup bag in it.
niyad
(123,434 posts)As a writer, one could not present that scene in a story, and have it accepted.
yardwork
(66,341 posts)Javaman
(63,678 posts)and will be deported, as an example of "how bad things are in the U.S."
we will never learn the truth.
LisaM
(29,125 posts)I have some nice bags (not as nice as hers) and the bags themselves are a target. I am very careful of where I take them and keep an eye on them at all times - when I do use them. Purses in general are a target. I was attacked at a bus stop once and the guy tried to grab my purse and run. I also had a fair amount of cash because I was getting ready to go out of town. If it hadn't been a Coach bag with a fairly strong lower handle, he probably would have gotten away with it, and the fact that it was a Coach bag probably made it more desirable to him. I was able to fend him off because I screamed really loudly, and fought back, and then, thank God, the bus arrived. I still get the heebie jeebies at that bus stop. And I don't use my nice purses for grocery store trips anymore.
Welcome to the world women live in.
niyad
(123,434 posts)supposedly sitting at a table behind her, with his back to her, reaching around with his foot to scoot the bag from under her feet, and nobody noticed. Tucked the bag under his jacket, and just walked out. What in the f'n hell was her ss detail doing? How in the f'n HELL did she not notice the actions of the contortionist, because that is what he had to be to do what was described. Release the video. .except by now they could have created one to match their story.
And, as a woman who knows all too well the world we live in, and carries a LARGE shoulder bag everywhere I go, I know where my purse is every minute when I am out, because I do understand very well. I don't care whether it was Gucci, Hermes, Coach, or something from Goodwill, that story is pure bs.
Hotler
(13,021 posts)The D.C. pipe bomber is still walking free. Just saying.
Walleye
(39,803 posts)Polybius
(19,822 posts)I believe the Secret Service accompanies cabinet appointees at all times.
Walleye
(39,803 posts)Firearms because they enjoy it. im just surprised she didnt have one on her just as a matter of general principle. Being who she is
orleans
(35,934 posts)Javaman
(63,678 posts)JohnnyRingo
(19,859 posts)drag the bag over to himself. Quite a contortionist.
I wonder if the footage will be released to the public. If it isn't, that'll be suspicious.
Walleye
(39,803 posts)Sneederbunk
(16,080 posts)getagrip_already
(17,680 posts)First it was a hermes, then louis voiton, now gucci.
Which is it?
Prairie Gates
(4,923 posts)
Gucci, she can buy. LV, too. Hermes? I don't think so.
Brainfodder
(7,199 posts)Let her replace the Marlboro Man for a new age too, I do not care or mind.
El Mimbreno
(798 posts)"DHS Secretary Kristi Noem, a law enforcement sour ..."
Sourpuss?
Can't help it, that's how my mind works.
Botany
(73,949 posts)A Gucci handbag that cost > 4K, a Louis Vuitton wallet, 3K in cash, blank checks, DHS access
stuff, keys, passport, and her I.D. probably with her address on it too.
Is she knowingly so guilty or such a shit that taking flight @ a moments notice is always
on her mind?
twodogsbarking
(13,457 posts)dobleremolque
(999 posts)Mr. Sparkle
(3,414 posts)TalenaGor
(1,168 posts)especially since she was at a...less bougie place than one would expect her to be
a thumb drive maybe....
(edited to correct spelling)
IronLionZion
(48,574 posts)things are not looking good for whoever they arrested.
This is such a strange story. She was quick to blame illegal immigrants and promise to keep Americans safe from them.
Oopsie Daisy
(5,622 posts)LudwigPastorius
(12,286 posts)Is that her everyday purse or her "bug out" bag? Both?
Sounds like she wants to always be prepared to exit the country if things quickly go south for the Trump regime.
Martin68
(25,563 posts)Magoo48
(6,255 posts)Permanut
(7,042 posts)viva la
(4,069 posts)This doesn't sound like a highly sophisticated group project.
Then again, apparently the Secretary isn't smart enough to keep her foot on her fancy purse like the rest of us do.
womanofthehills
(9,688 posts)The thieves cant be too bright. They probably also have videos of them entering the restaurant, walking down the street etc.
All the designer stuff is such a turnoff too. I like the videos coming out of China on what a rip off the designer bags are.
Karasu
(1,006 posts)Meowmee
(8,758 posts)"The thief, dressed in dark clothing, sat down at an empty table next to the puppy murderer with his back facing her and used his left foot to slide the bag away, the source said. "
Please explain to me how he could be sitting with his back to her and use his left foot to slide the bag away? That doesn't seem physically possible??? wth
I would like to see the video of this. The tables don't look close together either... I looked the restaurant up online. They have a lot of bad reviews also, terrible service apparently and more. It looks pretty small so I don't see how they could have corporate events there as some reviews said they were closed for that when they tried to eat there but had not been told they would be closed for an event. People had trouble waiting for a long time when picking up food as well.
Takket
(22,942 posts)willing to be 99.9% of these cases end with "we'll let you know if we find anything" and the cops never spend another minute on it.
mahatmakanejeeves
(64,455 posts)It will be the new Hunter Bidens laptop.
mahina
(19,715 posts)said my brain