THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Monday, August 29, 1994 TAG: 9408290044
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B3 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: ASSOCIATED PRESS
DATELINE: HAMPTON LENGTH: Short : 38 lines
Two Hampton men have gotten a message from a neighbor - the drug activities they are alleged to be involved in aren't welcome.
Three large plywood signs decorate the front of their yard.
The sign blocking the front door reads: ``Busted - n - Disgusted. Not again! Just say NO. Your neighbors.'' ``Relocated Hampton City Jail'' and ``I should have said NO,'' read the other signs.
The men, Ira G. Jones, 48, and Bobby A. Hedrick, 34, were arrested Friday on charges of conspiring to distribute cocaine, according to a spokesman at the Hampton City Jail. Both remained in jail Sunday.
Neighbor Tim McNelly admits responsibility. ``It was a spur-of-the-moment idea'' after he heard Jones and Hedrick had been arrested, he said Saturday.
``The worst thing for a drug dealer is public advertisement,'' McNelly said. ``Maybe it will keep some of the customers away.''
Other neighbors said they supported McNelly's action.
Next-door neighbor Deborah Whitt saw the signs when she came home Friday from working the night shift at Newport News Shipbuilding.
``I fell out laughing,'' she said. ILLUSTRATION: ASSOCIATED PRESS
Tim McNelly placed three signs in his neighbors' yard after they
were arrested on drug charges.
KEYWORDS: DRUG ARREST COCAINE by CNB