Footprints in the snow lead cops to robbery suspect

An Aurora man has been charged with armed robbery after his shoe prints in Monday's freshly fallen snow led police right to him.

According to police, Mustafa Ali, 21, of the 300 block of Claim Street, brandished a handgun to hold up a hotel at 3:10 a.m. Monday on the 2400 block of Sullivan Road. Ali fled on foot after taking cash from the 26-year-old desk clerk, police said.

Responding officers tracked his footprints for about a half-mile and found Ali hiding in tall brush behind the hotel.

Police spokesman Dan Ferrelli said Ali is just one of many suspects caught in such fashion.

"Believe it or not, this is not necessarily uncommon," he said. "It happens every year."

Money and a handgun were found on Ali, police said. The clerk was not injured.