Stapleton homeowner faces charges after locking a boot on a Jeep at his driveway

A Staten Island homeowner tired of cars blocking his driveway is now facing criminal charges. Police say Aaron Hardy, 52, locked a boot onto the front left tire of a gray 2015 Jeep Compass parked across his driveway on Waverly Place in Stapleton last Friday.

The driver had left the Jeep there around 7:30 a.m., the criminal complaint says. When she came back at about 3 p.m., the wheel was locked and a note sat on the windshield. It accused her of ignoring his no-parking sign, demanded $25 to take the boot off and gave a phone number.

What charges the Stapleton man faces

Hardy told the responding officers that he had papers allowing him to do this and that she was parked in front of his signed driveway, according to the complaint. He then took the boot off with a key. At the 120th Precinct stationhouse, police said, officers found an electronic stun gun in his pants, which brought a felony weapon possession charge. The other counts include third-degree coercion, attempted petit larceny and an attempted fifth-degree count of possessing stolen property.

Kelvin Richards, Hardy’s lawyer, does not deny that his client booted the Jeep. Hardy operates a car wash and repair business from the driveway, Richards said, and the driver got in the way of it. According to Richards, Hardy also claims a 311 operator said booting the car was allowed, an account the lawyer had not yet verified. Under city rules, residents without a license cannot boot someone else’s vehicle.

Why parking on Waverly Place is so tight

Waverly Place is a small dead-end street, a mile and a half or so from Stapleton Waterfront Park. Residents say finding a spot has been a struggle since 2022, when P.S. 84 began operating on the street, because teachers, staff and parents now compete with them for the same curb space.

Plumber Vincent Barranco, a resident of the block for seven years, said someone parks across his driveway one or two times each month. At the start of September, one car sat in front of his driveway while another hemmed in his work truck, forcing him to drive a different vehicle to a job. Calls to the precinct bring a slow response, he said, and officers usually just write a ticket rather than have the car towed.

Even so, he said Hardy crossed a line. “You shouldn’t block a driveway, number one. But that doesn’t give you the right to boot somebody’s car,” Barranco said.