Baltimore police sergeant handed one year sentence in kidnapping, extortion case
BALTIMORE -- A Baltimore homicide detective was sentenced to a year in prison Monday after threatening a contractor with arrest in 2020 because he was dissatisfied with a patio the contractor built at his Baltimore County home.
James Lloyd, a sergeant with the Baltimore City Police Department, was arrested in July 2020 and charged with kidnapping and extortion. He was sentenced to three years, with all but one year suspended.
Lloyd was suspended without pay when he was arrested, but by state law, he can't be terminated until he is sentenced. Baltimore Police did not immediately reply to request for comment.
According to charging documents, Lloyd and three other officers were on-duty when he confronted the contractor.
Lloyd has hired a contractor to build a patio in the back of his Gwynn Oak home in June 2020. The men agreed upon a price of $7,000 for the work, according to court documents.
Lloyd contacted the contractor on June 18 to tell him some of the pavers had come loose and that he'd like the patio to be larger, according to the documents. The contractor told Lloyd he could fix the pavement, but he'd need a payment of $1,400 to make the patio larger.
The sergeant reportedly agreed to the price but confronted the contractor when he arrived at the home to continue the work.
Lloyd allegedly told the victim that he could have him arrested and his car towed because he was driving on a suspended license due to missed child support payments, pulling out documents showing the suspension.
Three more detectives on the scene allegedly took pictures of the contractor's vehicle.
Those detectives were visibly wearing guns and their badges, according to State's Attorney for Baltimore County Scott Shellenberger.
Lloyd used the presence of the armed detectives to intimidate the contractor, Baltimore County court staff said.
Those detectives were later suspended.
Lloyd then drove the contractor to his bank in Glen Burnie for a refund of $3,500. As they were driving, Lloyd reportedly told the man "you are going to give me my money back and I'm going to give you freedom."
After giving Lloyd a cashier's check for the $3,500, the detectives returned to Lloyd's home, and the victim was then assured he wouldn't be stopped for driving on a suspended license. The victim then reported the incident to the police.
"This is an outrageous abuse of power of the badge and gun to intimidate another," Shellenberger said following the sentencing on Monday.
