He could've just said thanks for the ride. Instead, he took the car.
Cops caught up with the 23-year-old Long Island man who they say stole the car from a man who was driving him home two weeks ago, crashed the vehicle and fled on foot.
Police arrested Timothy Hardge last night. The district attorney's office says Nicholas Mittler was driving Hardge home after a party in Huntington Station early on August 28 when Hardge whipped out a handgun and robbed Mittler of his wallet and cell phone.
Hardge forced Mittler out of the 2005 Hyundai they were riding in, hijacked the car and ended up crashing it into two parked cars on McKay Road, near Columbia Street, in Huntington Station, police said. Then Hardge ran off on foot, eluding capture for weeks.
Suffolk County detectives caught up with him Sept. 15 and charged him with first-degree robbery. He's expected to be arraigned today in First District Court in Central Islip.
