A University of North Florida student was cited Monday after police said he damaged a Parking Services vehicle during a dispute over a parking boot.

Officers responded to a disturbance involving UNF Parking Services and a student on Monday afternoon. While officers were en route, dispatch reported that the incident had escalated and that the student was attacking a Parking Services vehicle, according to a UNF police report.

The report states that two Parking Services employees were canvassing a parking lot when their license plate reader detected a car with previous parking violations. Those violations had reached the level for Parking Services to place a boot on the vehicle, according to the report.

After Parking Services employees placed the boot on the rear driver-side tire, the student returned to his car and became upset because he believed he was being fined for parking in a 20-minute space, though he said he had only been parked there for about 10 minutes, according to the report.

The student began yelling and cursing at the Parking Services employees, according to the report. UPD said he then repeatedly slapped and shook the rear driver’s side of the Parking Services truck. One of the parking services employees later noticed a small dent on the rear driver-side quarter panel that he said had not been there before the incident.

A witness, another UNF student, told police he knew the student who allegedly attacked the parking services vehicle. The witness said he drove by during the incident, recognized the student and tried to calm him down. He told police he saw the student yelling at the Parking Services employees and slapping and shaking the truck bed, but he did not see him kick the vehicle. However, the witness said he did see the student kick his own vehicle, according to the police report.

The student told police he was upset about receiving the parking ticket and boot. He admitted to shaking the truck and slapping the rim of the truck bed but denied kicking the vehicle or causing the damage, according to the report.

The student qualified for a notice to appear citation and was issued one without incident, according to the police report. 

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