People v. Harding

In July, 1969 the defendant James Harding, then a lieutenant in the New York City Police Department, observed Thelma Bodrick, a numbers runner, in the act of taking a bet in Brooklyn. He stopped her and threatened her with arrest unless she would divulge the name of her "banker”. She identified Leroy Massey and the defendant then took her to a phone booth and told her to call Massey. After she placed the call the defendant took the phone and told Massey that he would arrest Bodrick unless Massey paid him to release her. Massey agreed and all three met at a prearranged location where Massey…