Annette Minnis, 64, of Chicago,

Aurora police are crediting the public for its help in capturing a Chicago woman who has been accused of mugging a woman last week in Aurora.

Tips, photos and other information offered by witnesses acted as puzzle pieces for detectives who were able to track down the alleged offender all the way to her Chicago address in no time.

“Everyone did an excellent job on this case. The citizen witnesses should be acknowledged for their willingness to help a fellow neighbor during a time of need,” said Investigations Sergeant Tom McNamara. “Without the picture taken and relayed to responding officers this case would not have moved as quickly as it did. At the end of the day we have the best possible outcome.”

According to Aurora police, it was around 4 p.m. on Aug. 5 that two women, ages 67 and 72, were walking in the area of West Park Avenue and Oak Avenue and came upon a blue Nissan Versa parked in the street. Suddenly, a woman got out of the Nissan, pushed the 67-year-old woman to the ground, and stole the woman’s purse, police said.

As the suspect, later identified as Annette Minnis, 64, of Chicago, got back into her car, the 72-year-old victim reached in and tried to get her friend’s purse back. Police said Minnis allegedly accelerated, knocking the victim to the ground before fleeing the scene.

Several people saw the attack and told police exactly what they had witnessed, Aurora Police Department spokesman Dan Ferrelli said. One witness, a 35-year-old man, went a step further, snapping a photo of the Nissan and its license plate. From there, detectives quickly started tracking down the vehicle’s owner.

In the meantime, officers were also on a mission to recover the woman’s purse, and so was the victim’s son, who, despite being in California, would become crucial to the case.

After learning his mother’s purse and cellphone were taken, the son used an app to track his mother’s cellphone to a location in Downers Grove.

Aurora Police detectives responded to the area where the phone pinged, and while being directed by the victim’s son, were able to locate the purse and all of its contents — except for cash — in the 5700 block of Chase Avenue, Ferrelli said.

While these detectives were busy finding the purse, others were busy hunting down the owner of that blue Nissan.

Detectives were eventually able to zero in on one potential suspect, Minnis, who lived in the Austin neighborhood in Chicago, Ferrelli said.

When police arrived at the Minnis’ home, they spotted the Nissan parked on the street.

After knocking on the woman’s door and receiving no answer, police called for a tow truck to haul the car away. Ferrelli said that’s when Minnis cracked open her apartment window and identified herself as the Nissan’s owner.

She told police she was up to date on payments, and there was no reason for them to be towing the vehicle away. Detectives asked if she would come outside to speak with them, and Minnis agreed. Ferrelli said she was taken into custody and charged with robbery of a person over the age of 60.

She is currently being held in the Kane County Correctional Center in lieu of $150,000 bail.

— Chicago woman arrested for mugging woman in Aurora —