A Gucci shoulder bag worth thousands, left under a woman’s seat in a burger restaurant, probably looked like an easy target.

After spotting the bag, a thief in a Covid mask and dark cap hooked his foot through the strap, tugged it over to his table and swiftly exited the building before heading out onto the evening streets of Washington, DC, prosecutors say.

It seems to have been sheer bad luck for the man, whom authorities claim is Mario Bustamante Leiva, that the bag belonged to Kristi Noem, the US homeland security secretary and one of the most powerful figures in Donald Trump’s government.

Court documents claim the theft of Ms Noem’s bag was just one incident in a one-man crime spree, alleging the suspect committed three separate robberies in just over a week in the city.

Mr Leiva, a Chilean national whom police said has admitted to stealing Ms Noem’s bag after being arrested last month, reportedly honed his pickpocketing skills on the streets of London more than a decade ago.