One of the two men charged with a string of November 2015 graffiti around Wrightsville Beach took responsibility for the incident in court and was ordered to pay restitution, according to police and court sources.
Cody Harvey, 23, of Louisville, Kentucky, told the New Hanover County district court on March 22 that he alone was responsible for the spray painting. The court dropped charges for Ethan Fink, 21, of LaGrange, Georgia, who is Harvey’s cousin.
Wrightsville Beach detective Bonnie Neral said it was the cowboy hat that Fink was wearing in surveillance footage in November that helped the police find the two men who were in the area visiting.
“It was a matter of officers working together on it, reviewing footage, a lot of canvassing the area and communicating together well,” Neral said after the arrest.
Harvey was sentenced on a “deferred” prosecution, which means the charges will be eventually dropped if he’s not charged again. Harvey was also sentenced to restitution charges to help pay for repairs to the area.
The graffiti was discovered on Nov. 21 underneath and on the walkway up Johnnie Mercer’s Pier, on the lifeguard stand located between Raleigh and Augusta streets, and at the mailboxes on the end of Stone, East Fayetteville, Augusta, West Asheville and Charlotte streets.
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