A Stapleton man is facing a stack of criminal charges after authorities say he booted a stranger's Jeep that was blocking his driveway, then demanded $25 to take it off. Police say that when they arrested 52-year-old Aaron Hardy, they also found an electronic stun gun tucked in his pants.
According to silive.com, the incident happened on Oct. 2 on Waverly Place near Targee Street, where authorities allege Hardy placed a wheel boot on a gray 2015 Jeep Compass that was blocking his driveway. Per the criminal complaint cited in that report, the driver had parked the Jeep at about 7:30 a.m. and did not discover the boot until around 3 p.m. Hardy allegedly left a note on the windshield demanding $25 to take the boot off.
As detailed by Gothamist, Hardy had also posted a no-parking sign warning that unauthorized vehicles would be towed, and he allegedly attached the boot to the Jeep's front left tire. Hardy reportedly told police he had papers authorizing him to boot the car and claimed he had called 311 and was told he could do so. New York City, however, has no provision allowing residents to boot other people's cars without a license, per the outlet's reporting. Police say Hardy ultimately removed the boot himself with a key.
Charges Include Felony Weapon Possession
Hardy has been charged with criminal possession of a weapon, coercion in the third degree, attempted petit larceny, attempted criminal possession of stolen property and criminal tampering, according to the same silive.com report. Gothamist's reporting specifies that the weapon charge is for felony possession, tied to the stun gun police say they found on him. The attempted criminal possession of stolen property charge falls under a statute that, per the New York State Senate, applies when someone knowingly possesses stolen property intending to benefit from it or to keep the rightful owner from recovering it.
Hardy pleaded not guilty to all charges and was released with non-monetary conditions, the outlet reported. His attorney, Kelvin Richards, said his client is innocent and will contest the charges, while acknowledging that Hardy did boot the car. Richards told Gothamist that the driver had interfered with Hardy's car wash and repair business, and said Hardy remains adamant that people cannot park in front of his business. Hardy has since returned to work, according to Gothamist.
A Dead-End Block Squeezed by a New School
Waverly Place is a dead-end block about 1.5 miles from Stapleton Waterfront Park, and neighbors describe daily parking chaos since P.S. 84 opened there in 2022, per Gothamist's reporting. Teachers, staff and parents now compete for spots on the block alongside longtime residents. Vincent Barranco, a plumber who has lived on Waverly Place for seven years, told the outlet that parking is very difficult on the block, especially with the new school, and that he finds a car blocking his driveway once or twice a month. In early September, Barranco said, he found one vehicle blocking his driveway and another blocking his work truck.
Barranco said local police typically ticket blocking cars rather than tow them, and he told Gothamist that Hardy had no right to boot someone else's car. Denzel Green, a paraprofessional who has lived in the neighborhood for four years, called the booting way out of pocket and said damaging someone else's property and charging for it are crimes, according to the same report.
Parking Complaints Are Piling Up Borough-Wide
The frustration on Waverly Place reflects a broader pattern across Staten Island. More than 7,000 Staten Islanders reported bad parking behavior to 311 between Jan. 1 and May 23, 2026, with parking accounting for 10% of the borough's 311 calls this year, according to a separate silive.com report. Vehicles blocking driveways are among the reportable problems NYC311 tracks for residents seeking help rather than taking matters into their own hands.
Private booting in New York City is tightly regulated. The NYC Department of Consumer and Worker Protection says it licenses businesses that boot cars parked in private lots or on private streets when drivers violate posted rules, while the NYC Department of Finance notes separately that the city itself boots vehicles only when an owner owes $350 or more in parking or camera-ticket judgments, towing them if the debt goes unpaid within 48 hours. Neither pathway applies to an individual resident booting a neighbor's car over a driveway dispute.
