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A Staten Island man was arrested after he took the law into his own hands and placed a wheel-locking parking boot on a car parked illegally outside his home.
Aaron Hardy, 52, of Stapelton, had grown tired of drivers parking in front of his driveway, which he said would often include sex workers and johns, and installed a “No Parking” sign on his fence.
“When I first moved down here, they used to come down there and prostitute. They used to come down there and do all types of stuff. They had drugs, and all that other stuff,” Hardy told The Post.
“They see a dead-end street and they’ll come down there and they’ll prostitute. I get up every morning and see condoms all over the place.”
When he spotted a Jeep Grand Compass ignoring the sign earlier this month, the vexed man turned vigilante — applying a boot to the vehicle and leaving a handwritten note on the windshield on the morning of Oct. 2, the NYPD said.
“I seen you looked at the do not park sign and still park there $25 to take the boot off,” the note read, according to Gothamist, which first reported the story.
He claimed he initially got the idea from a cop, after numerous complaints to police and 311 failed to deter the allegedly sex-crazed scofflaws.
“An officer told me like this: ‘you didn’t hear it from me,’ but I’m going to give you a suggestion – you can go on Amazon and get yourself a boot.’ I got this idea from an officer,” Hardy said.
Although usually deployed by parking enforcement agents, wheel-locking boots can be purchased by anyone and are widely available online for about $50.
The cul-de-sac crusader also alleged that he was only targeted by police because the driver of the Jeep was dating another cop.
“I never had no problem until we had a shiesty police officer get involved,” Hardy said.
“He didn’t like the fact that I put a boot on his girlfriend’s car. That’s what this is about.”
Hardy, who told The Post he operates a car wash business from his home, pleaded not guilty to coercion, tampering, larceny and weapons charges and was released without bail ahead of a December court date.
The weapons charges were handed out when he booked at the 120th precinct house, where officers found Hardy was allegedly in possession of a stun gun, according to police.
Hardy defended his actions in a phone interview Sunday afternoon.
“If I park my car in my little driveway, if anybody park in front of my house I can’t get my car out without hitting their car. That’s why I put up signs,” he explained.