Christie Hernandez, 25, is charged with criminal damage to property for keying a neighbor's car. Hernandez apparently believed the neighbor had stolen her parking spot. View Full Caption Chicago Police Department

COOK COUNTY CRIMINAL COURTHOUSE — An Albany Park woman, upset that a neighbor parked in "her" shoveled-out parking space, was caught in the act by a Chicago Police officer keying the Mercedes Benz, prosecutors said Tuesday.

Christie Hernandez told police she'd shoveled out the parking spot all winter and left cones to mark her "dibs" — only to find her neighbor's Benz there on Feb. 10, authorities said.

"She was upset," prosecutors said. "She put cones up, but they were taken away."

So she scraped the car with her keys, causing $2,113 in damage to the 1998 Mercedes, according to a police report.

Hernandez's alleged act of vengeance in the 4400 block of North Harding Avenue was witnessed by another neighbor, a Chicago Police officer who promptly reported her.

Christie Hernandez was charged with keying a car that parked in the spot she cleared out, police said. View Full Caption Chicago Police; DNAinfo/Josh McGhee

After her arrest, Hernandez told police she needed a parking spot close to her home because she has five children, prosecutors said.

The City of Chicago recently called an end to the annual, unofficial tradition of "dibs," by which Chicagoans unofficially reserve street parking spaces by keeping them clear of snow and placing cones, lawn furniture and junk in them to mark their territory.

A Cook County judge ordered Hernandez released from jail Tuesday to report back to court on her own recognizance.