clipped from www.wnbc.com

Man Accused Of Stealing Acres Of Brooklyn Land

NEW YORK -- For nearly a decade, one man turned four acres of land in East New York into a booming business -- a parking lot for hundreds of trucks and cars. But police arrested Darren Miller Tuesday saying the lot was never his to use -- that most of those acres belong to New York City.

Miller charged about $200 per vehicle per month to park on the land along Erskine Street near the Belt Parkway. Hundreds of tractor-trailers and other vehicles were ordered removed Tuesday when police moved in to shut the site down.

Miller's lawyer called his client a "small businessman" who under the theory of "adverse possession" should now rightfully own the property. "If you can find five acres of land, surround it with a fence and stay on it and operate it for 10 years -- you can do it too," attorney Vincent Gerardi said. Gerardi went on to call the police raid "outlandish and oppressive."