Federal officials put a Romanian illegal immigrant couple dubbed “Bonnie and Clyde” into ICE custody after jewelry thefts spanning four states, and pointed to sanctuary policies as the problem.
Rudi Lacatusu, 28, and Mirabela Lacatusu, 26, are in Immigration and Customs Enforcement custody after Nassau County authorities turned them over following local arrests, the Department of Homeland Security announced. The pair stands accused of running a distraction jewelry theft spree that hit victims across New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, and Maryland.
Fox News reported that DHS tied the couple to at least 14 alleged jewelry thefts and said both entered the United States illegally at an unknown time and place. Officials framed the case as another example of criminal illegal immigrants preying on Americans while sanctuary rules slow removals.
Each faces three counts of fourth-degree grand larceny, a felony theft charge, according to Nassau County police. Stolen necklaces were valued between $2,000 and $3,000 apiece. DHS says the couple will be removed from the country.
Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin did not say much about the pair or the politics around them.
"This ‘Bonnie and Clyde’ illegal alien couple from Romania has been charged with grand larceny after allegedly carrying out more than a dozen jewelry thefts across four states,"
Mullin said. He added that local partners made the handoff possible.
"Thanks to local partners in New York, these illegal aliens are in ICE custody and will be removed from our country."
Nassau County detectives described a pattern that started with a simple ask for help. On Oct. 5, a 73-year-old woman stood outside her home in Valley Stream, New York, when a gold Mitsubishi pulled up with a man and a woman inside.
The female passenger asked for directions to a BJ’s Wholesale Club. She then asked for a hug and placed two gold-colored necklaces around the woman’s neck. After the encounter, the victim realized her own gold necklace, worth about $2,000, was gone.
Investigators later linked the same suspects to similar thefts in Franklin Square and East Meadow. Police warned residents about distraction scams and urged people to call 911 rather than engage. Crime Stoppers tips were directed to 1-800-244-TIPS.
Appearance tickets initially directed the couple to court in Hempstead on Oct. 20. Nassau County then turned them over to ICE. DHS did not say exactly when agents took custody.
Cases like this fit a wider enforcement push, including ICE arrests of illegal immigrants already tied to serious crimes.
DHS used the Lacatusu case to renew pressure on New York’s sanctuary approach. Mullin argued soft policies put the same offenders back in circulation.
"If it were up to sanctuary politicians like Governor Kathy Hochul, these criminals would be back on the streets to rob more Americans,"
he said. DHS called New York a hotbed of illegal immigrant crime under the Democratic governor and said the fallout reaches past state lines.
Hochul was named in the criticism. The information provided carried no direct response from her office in the announcement coverage.
Federal officers have stepped up removals and custody transfers in other high-profile matters, from an ICE arrest tied to a Pennsylvania campaign case to deportations of foreign nationals linked to violent plots.
The jewelry case landed against the backdrop of a major ICE effort. Operation Rotten Apple ran from July 27 through Aug. 29. DHS said officers arrested 2,197 illegal immigrants across New York during that crackdown.
Border czar Tom Homan highlighted the operation’s scale and said the targeted approach kept open-border advocates from interfering. The announcement package framed the Lacatusu custody as part of the same priority: take criminal illegal immigrants off the street and move them toward removal.
That New York focus tracks with other recent surges, including when ICE launched a surge operation in New York City after Homan promised a major deployment.
Nationwide, enforcement has also expanded at ports of entry and travel hubs as ICE more than doubles arrests at U.S. airports in broader operations.
Local police charged each of the Lacatusus with three counts of fourth-degree grand larceny. DHS labeled them illegal aliens who entered without authorization and said removal is the plan once federal custody is complete.
No full docket numbers, complete list of all 14 alleged theft locations, or conviction record appeared in the announcement materials. The public case so far rests on the Nassau charges, the multi-state allegation count, the Valley Stream victim account, and the ICE handoff.
Federal action in comparable matters has ended in removal, as when ICE deported a former Ecuadorian official accused in a violent overseas case.
For victims on Long Island and in the other three states, the method was simple and personal: a request for directions, a moment of trust, and jewelry gone. For federal officials, the couple’s path from local tickets to ICE custody is the point, proof that cooperation beats sanctuary roadblocks.
When local police hand criminal illegal immigrants to ICE instead of cycling them back out, Americans keep their property and their safety. Sanctuary rules that stall that handoff only protect the next distraction theft.