EXCLUSIVESee illegal migrant blowing Ice Barbie Kristi Noem's thousands on debauched bender before his shocking confession
The illegal immigrant charged with robbing Kristi Noem immediately used her credit cards for a boozy night out - before sensationally calling the cops on himself when he was thieved as he slept outside.
Mario Bustamante-Leiva, 49, was arrested this week after allegedly robbing the Secretary of Homeland Security at The Capital Burger restaurant in downtown Washington DC, taking off with over $3,000 in cash in her Gucci handbag.
Noem said the thief also took her makeup bag, driver's license, passport, medication, apartment keys, DHS access badge and some blank checks.
New documents obtained by the Daily Mail claim that Bustamante-Leiva swiped her bag before going to Angolo Ristorante Italiano restaurant, where he 'stayed until about midnight' drinking at the bar.
He spent $205.87 of Noem's money inside the establishment - and cops released images of him chatting on the phone with her large designer handbag, wallet, and American Express card on the table in front of him.
The career criminal then fell asleep on an outdoor table at the restaurant until 7.30am the next morning. However when he woke up, he realized his belongings, including a Chilean passport and $1,000 in cash, had been stolen.
When he was finally apprehended by police, he was caught with a fake California ID in his possession and admitted to stealing Noem's purse.
Bustamante-Leiva - who had been living illegally in the US for years - was shown a picture of the top cabinet member by police, but he said he had no idea who she was.
This is not the Chilean's first run-in with the law. He made Daily Mail headlines back in 2015 for being one of London's most prolific robbers.
The Secret Service captured footage of the illegal migrant who stole DHS Secretary Kristi Noem's handbag immediately headed to a bar, where he spent over $200 and stayed 'until midnight'
When he robbed Noem, Bustamante-Leiva sat alone at a table next to the secretary and was able to snatch her purse while no one was looking
Noem, 53, was dining with her family at The Capital Burger in downtown DC , when a man in a medical mask was able to sneak off with her Gucci bag last Sunday
When he robbed Noem, Bustamante-Leiva sat alone at a table 'within arms reach' of her, and used a sneaky method to move her handbag closer to him that cops say he has used many times before.
He sat behind Noem and 'pushed the chair back from his table and in the direction of' the DHS Secretary, in a 'deliberate' move 'to get closer to (her) belongings', the documents state.
Bustamante-Leiva then 'looked downward' in the direction of her purse, and 'then at a child milling about nearby', before he 'twisted his body left towards (Noem's) purse and moved his leg'.
He swept her Gucci handbag toward himself with his leg, and surveillance footage then showed him 'bend down with his jacket in one hand and, with his other hand, pick up' the handbag.
With the bag under his arm, the longtime thief then bolted to a nearby bar.
After robbing Noem at a restaurant with a Gucci hat on and a mask over his face, Bustamante-Leiva immediately went to a nearby bar and drank until midnight
The suspect was found with a fake California ID when he was arrested, the newly released court filings showed
Mario Bustamante-Leiva, 49, was apprehended for the theft in DC. He is pictured here in his mugshot from his robberies in the UK
According to the court documents, Bustamante-Leiva had robbed two other unsuspecting victims in just over a week before targeting Noem.
He passed out at an outdoor table at the bar until 7:30am, when he bizarrely called the cops on himself to report his bag, which would have allegedly contained some of Noem's possessions, was stolen as he slept.
After he was nabbed by the Secret Service, Bustamante-Leiva told officers he was an alcoholic and suffered from 'memory issues', before admitting to stealing Noem's handbag.
The court documents noted that he was 'somewhat uncooperative and smelled heavily of alcohol.'
He said that he kept her purse and wallet, but threw the rest of the contents in the trash - including Noem's driving license - as he made his escape.
When shown a picture of Noem, he said he did not know who she was - confirming what investigators had earlier said in that the robbery was not a targeted hit on Noem because of her politics.
In surveillance images included in the filing, he was seen at various stores and bars using the credit cards, and after robbing Noem was noted as wearing a dark colored jacket with a thick white collar, jeans, a white Covid-style mask, and a dark colored hat to hide his face.
Bustamante-Leiva is seen immediately after Noem's handbag was stolen, using her credit card (circled) to make over $200 in purchases at a bar
According to the court documents, Bustamante-Leiva had robbed two other unsuspecting victims in just over a week before targeting Noem in the same fashion (pictured robbing another victim at a Nando's days before)
The suspect was spotted using Noem's credit cards and cash at various stores and bars around DC following the robbery
When he was taken into custody, Bustamante-Leiva was transported to hospital after 'complaining of alcohol withdrawal', the court documents stated.
He was then released and transported to Secret Service headquarters, where he was interrogated by agents, and claimed that when he was robbed outside the restaurant, he was targeted by 'five black males.'
The shocking disclosures in the filings were signed off by Special Agent Stephen May of the US Secret Service, and his case is being overseen by Judge Moxila Upadhyaya.
Investigators believe the suspect is part of a wider robbery organization terrorizing the East Coast - but Bustamante-Leiva has a lengthy, transatlantic robbery record to his name.
Following his 2014 arrest in London, he was jailed in the UK for three years after stealing $27,957 worth of phones, wallets and computers during a five-month crime spree.
Bustamante-Leiva was a jobless father-of-three at the time with no fixed address.
The Chilean national trawled exclusive bars, restaurants and coffee shops looking for laptops, mobile phones, iPods and tablets.
Although Noem is the face of Donald Trump's hardline immigration crackdown, investigators believe the theft of her handbag was unrelated to her politics, and Bustamante-Leiva did not recognize her when shown a picture of the Republican
Noem seen with her family at The Capital Burger, where she was targeted by the brazen theft
In 2015, the Old Bailey court in London heard in one case he even stole a bag containing an entire family’s passports and airplane boarding passes.
Police released CCTV footage which showed the brazen thief swipe an unsuspecting woman’s handbag from under her nose as she chats with a friend.
He admitted 22 charges of theft between July and December 2014.
Noem thanked law enforcement for arresting her suspected robber.
She wrote on Sunday: 'Thank you to Secret Service and 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.
'This individual is a career criminal who has been in our country illegally for years.
'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.'
