Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said Sunday that the Secret Service caught the person who swiped her bag from a Washington restaurant on Easter Sunday while she was dining with her family.
“Thank you to @SecretService @ICE and our law enforcement partners for finding and arresting the criminal who stole my bag on Easter Sunday as I shared a meal with my family at a Washington DC restaurant,” Noem posted on X.
Authorities said a man wearing a mask took Noem’s bag, which contained $3,000, her DHS access card, passport, makeup bag, apartment key and other items.
Noem said in her post that the person arrested is “a career criminal who has been in our country illegally for years.”
Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem attends a meeting with El Salvador president in the Oval Office at the White House in Washington, April 14, 2025.
Ken Cedeno/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock
“Unfortunately, so many families in this country have been made victims by crime, and that’s why President Trump is working every single day to make America safe and get these criminal aliens off of our streets,” she said.
In a post on X on Saturday, Secret Service spokesman Anthony Guglielmi said, “For the safety of our agents and officers, we are not in a position to confirm or comment at this time. Should criminal charges be filed, the Department of Homeland Security will provide public information in accordance with established procedures.”
In an interview on Thursday, Noem said she thought the theft was “professionally done.”
“It was kind of shocking, actually, because it was sitting right by my feet, actually felt my purse, he hooked it with his foot and dragged it a few steps away and dropped a coat over it and took it,” Noem said on “The Vince Show.”
Noem said she wasn’t sure if she was targeted because she was the DHS secretary. She said she felt something brush against her leg where the bag was at her feet, but thought it was one of her grandchildren.
“I think I was a busy grandma with four grandkids under the age of 4, and I was taking care of them and feeding them food and enjoying my family, yeah, but certainly had my purse even touching my feet,” she said.
A DHS official said the secretary had the cash with her because her family was in town and she was treating them to Easter festivities.
“Her entire family was in town including her children and grandchildren — she was using the cash withdrawal to treat her family to dinner, activities, and Easter gifts,” the official said.
-ABC News’ Beatrice Peterson contributed to this report.
