Mich. officer charged with extortion

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By David Ashenfelter
Detroit Free Press

DETROIT, Mich. — A Detroit police officer allegedly arranged to dismiss two tickets against a Detroit bar in exchange for $200 so he could take a group of students to a college baseball tournament in Illinois.

The criminal complaint issued Thursday in U.S. District Court in Detroit said Officer Carnelle A. Humphries, 34, of Detroit, told Raymond Snarski, the owner of Covergirls bar on Detroit’s east side, in June that he needed money for gas and lodging for the trip.

In exchange for the money, the complaint said, Humphries offered to “take care” of two of four state liquor law violations Humphries had issued to the bar. Humphries then arranged to have the two most serious tickets dismissed, the complaint said, adding that Snarski secretly recorded their conversations and gave the recordings to the FBI.

The tickets that were dismissed could have resulted in the suspension of Snarski’s liquor license, the complaint said.

The charge against Humphries, extortion, carries a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine.

Humphries couldn’t be reached for comment and his status with the Detroit Police Department is unclear. No court date has been arranged, authorities said.

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