Investigators have arrested a man accused of stealing a handbag of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem at a Washington burger restaurant last weekend, the Secret Service said Sunday.
Secret Service Special Agent Matt McCool said in a statement that the suspect did not appear to target Ms. Norm because of her position. He did not release the suspect’s name, but he described the person as a “sequential offender” who attempted to use Ms. Noem’s credit card and access his electronic devices.
Ms. Norm’s purse was snatched from under her chair on Easter Sunday, April 20, when she was dining with her family at Capital Burger in downtown Washington. The package contains the secretary’s driver’s license, medication, apartment keys, blank checks, department badges, passports and $3,000 in cash.
A spokesperson for Ms. Norm had previously said that the thief hooked the secretary’s schoolbag to the floor with his feet and put on his coat before leaving the restaurant. Although several Secret Service agents accompanied Ms. Norm, they were over 20 feet away from her at the time to give her the privacy to eat with her family.
In social media articles about the arrest, Ms. Norm described the suspect as a “professional criminal” as a foreign national who illegally entered the United States. Instead of confirming Ms. Norm’s allegations, the Secret Service directed the issues to the federal prosecutor assigned to the case. Washington interim prosecutor Ed Martin said the suspects had entered the U.S. illegally and law enforcement officers were looking for more people related to theft.
Secret Service agent Mr McCall said in a statement that five law enforcement agencies, including the Washington Metropolitan Police Department and immigration and customs enforcement, participated in the investigation.
Theft is the latest episode to raise questions about the Secret Service, and the case has been under scrutiny since Donald J. Trump became the target of two assassinations last year as a presidential candidate.
