Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1955-03-17
Police Bribery Trial
Told Of 500 Payoff
To Capt. Monroe
By jack Jonas

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Capt. Monroe July 2 and told
him he had the 500.
IT asked him If he was in any
hurry for it." Capt. Thoman said
"He said. NO. ! told him okay,
I would cali him later on"
Capt. Todd o. Thoman. jr.,
said he handed the payment to
Capt. Monroe last July 8.
The testimony came In the
bribery and conspiracy trial of
Capt. Monroe and seven other
men in U. s. District Court for
the District Of Columbia.
Capt. Thoman said he got the
500 from John Lefty Winston.
colored, during a meeting with
Winston and Curtis M. (Bozo)
Taylor, colored. on July ! last
year att Bladensburg and Eastern
avenue NE.
Passed $100 Along
Winston gave me 500 that
was for Capt. Monroe and !
told him / would give 1t to him, -
Capt. Thoman said.
Assistant United States At
torney Edward P. Troxell asked
If the money had been passed
along to Capt. Monroe.
I gave it to Capt. Monroe
July g." Capt. Thoman replied.
He said that before he passed
it along, he and Deputy Chief
Clarence H. Lutz. head of the
morals squad. and Capt. John
B. Layton, assigned to investi-
gate the bribery case, got to-
gether and wrote down the Sc
rial numbers on the bills.
Told Business Was Bad
Capt. Thoman said that VIM
ston left. and he and Taylor
continued the conversation.
IT asked Taylor if he could pay
me $500 a month for protection
of his numbers business" the
captain told the jury. He stated
that he could and that he would
send the money to me by Win
ston on Monday. He said bust
ness was bad: that his business
had dropped from $4,000 a day
to about $4,000 a day"
On trial with Capt. Monroe
Winston and Taylor are Roger
(Whitetop) Simkins. SIS, colored;
George C. Prather, suspended
probationary detective Of the
18th precinct: Charles (Geechie
Charlie) Anderson, 40, colored;
Burnie King, 90, colored. and
Albert H. (Real Estate) Smith,
As.
Capt. Thoman also testified
this morning about another
$1,000 he said he got from num-
bers racketeers.
Says Simkins Paid $50e
He said he got the money from
Anderson and Simkins during
separate meetings the same
night, July 8. During his talk
with Anderson, he told the jury,
the latter paid him $500.
Later, he went on. he had a
l0-minute talk with Simkins.
during which he was handed
another $500. He also got the
news during that conversation
that Simkins and Smith had
split up. In earlier testimony
the two had been identified as
partners.
Capt. Thoman said Simkins
told him he was 100000 loser
and that the amounts Of the hits
didn't compare with the money
that Smith had been getting
from it."
Urged to Move Operations
Simins told him. Capt. Thoman
related, that Smith was trying
to get him to move the numbers
operation into Maryland.
"He said there had been too
many arrests in Maryland" the
police captain testified. land he
didn't want to go out there. He
said Smith wanted to get some
money from him to buy protec-
ton in case he did go out there"
The talks with Simkins and
Anderson also were at Bladens-
burg road and Eastern avenue
NE, Capt. Thoman said.
Couldn't Meet Payment
Capt. Thoman told the jury
yesterday that Winston was
unable to meet his monthly
bride payment on time last June.
The police captain testified he
talked with Winston on June %
at Bladensburg road and East
tern avenue NE.
II told him it was around
that time of the month that
the payment was due" Capt.
Thoman said. "He said he was
a little short and would see me
in a day or two"
Six days later. Capt. Thoman
said, he got a $500 payment from
Winston and a promise to give
me the other $500 later on"
HE asked me If wanted to
meet Bozo-that's Curtis M.
Taylor-and that he would like
Bozo to take over part Of the
payment of the money" the po-
lice captain said. HE said he
would have the 500 for Capt.
Monroe Thursday night"