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Police: Thief found by following footprints

BOSTON (MyFoxBoston.com) -- Police say they literally followed footprints to make an arrest in an apartment break-in Tuesday evening.

At around 6:20 p.m. Tuesday, a man reported that his apartment, at 1574 Tremont St. in Mission Hill, had been broken into and a side window was open. The man reported that his laptop had been stolen, among other items.

In the apartment's back yard, police noticed fresh footprints in the falling snow near the window and leading away from the yard. Police followed the  footprints around a fence to nearby Torpie Street, and up the driveway of 2 Torpie St.

There, they found a woman standing on the back porch with a gym bag over her shoulder. When officers asked her if she lived there, she said no but that she was waiting for a friend. Officers asked her what was inside the gym bad, and she told them it was a laptop, but she didn't know what kind.

After investigating, officers found that both the laptop and gym bag belonged to the man who reported the break-in. Police arrested Erika Pizzi, age 23, of Cambridge, and charged her with buying, receiving or concealing stolen goods and will appear in West Roxbury District Court Wednesday.