CAPE GIRARDEAU, Mo. (AP) — An owner of “The Mattress Guys” is serving five days of shock jail time for failing to remove an advertising banner from outside of his business. It reads only: “Mattresses Mattresses Mattresses.”

Dennis McDonald, an owner of the mattress business, had been issued nine summonses since May 5, 2006, because the sign violates the southeast Missouri city’s sign ordinance. Cape Girardeau ordinance prohibits all business-owned banner signs strung between fixed posts. McDonald claims his sign should be allowed, because it was there long before the ordinance was passed.He was found guilty of three sign violations in April. He was given probation, but was supposed to remove the sign and pay all court costs.

Cape Girardeau city prosecutor Reagan Holliday said McDonald neglected to do either. Holliday said she also paid visits to local businesses in 2006 to educate them about the sign ordinance before taking any legal action.

“We tried to give him as many warnings as we could,” she said. McDonald was given another chance Friday by Associate Circuit Judge Gary Kamp, acting in place of a municipal judge who had a conflict of interest in the matter. McDonald refused to comply and was sent to jail Monday. “If he had just been willing to take the sign down, I never would have recommended jail. When he refuses to comply, everyone else thinks they don’t have to comply,” Holliday said.

via My Fox St. Louis

Tags: MATTRESS News, mattress-advertising, mattress-salesman, mattress-sign

This entry was posted on Thursday, June 21st, 2007 at 12:24 pm and is filed under MATTRESS News.
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