Alice Makla used her car to chase down two robbers who snatched her purse Tuesday.
The 81-year-old woman was speaking to two strangers, a man and a woman, while seated in her car in Mount Pocono, Pennsylvania.
She spoke to them through an open window in her car while parked in her driveway.
WBRE/WYOU reported that the woman, Erin Vanmatre, had asked Makla for $10 for gas.
Makla gave her $20 because she did not have change, according to police.
The pair then followed Makla home to rob her, taking $140 out of her wallet and throwing her purse out the window.
"She didn't realize they were following her until she actually got in the driveway and they pulled in behind her," Lt. Steven Williams of Pocono Mountain Regional Police said.
One of the robbers reached in the woman's car and grabbed her purse. The robber then ran to the getaway vehicle, a small red car, and drove off.
Police said that Makla pursued the car and hit it in an effort to stop them, but the robbers kept driving.
WNEP reported that the car was found in an area supermarket parking lot.
"She rammed their car, left some marks on it, and police had at least something to go on and they were apprehended today," Makla's neighbor Steve Jabara said.
William Hayhurst, 34, and Vanmatre, 30, admitted to being the culprits and face robbery charges.
Vanmatre and Hayhurst are being held on $50,000 bail and have a preliminary hearing Thursday.
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