NASHVILLE, TN (WSMV) -
Questions continue a day after five Nashville firefighters were placed on administrative leave after accusations of inappropriate female visits and lewd conduct at a fire station.
Channel 4 News spoke with one of the firefighters on the phone, and he said this has all caught him by surprise.
Police said there seems to be a clear case of extortion. What's not so clear are allegations of sex and strippers in the fire hall.
"This does tarnish the department at this point, but let's not jump to judgment," said Mark Young with the IAFF Local 140 Firefighters Union.
Young said after meeting with the five suspended firefighters he's confident the story about strippers and sex in the fire hall was all fabricated.
"Nothing happened at Station 24 with any kind of sexual activity, any acts of misconduct," said Young.
But Fire Chief Billy Lynch said all of the questions haven't been answered.
"Exactly what took place? When did it take place? Who all was involved?" said Lynch.
The investigation started when a woman told police she may have been drugged at firefighter Jason Copeland's home.
Later she told detectives that she witnessed women stripping and performing sex acts for money at Fire Station 24 in Bordeaux.
But when police talked to Copeland, he wouldn't say anything about those claims. He did say that Ray Johnson, a suspected gang member, was threatening to expose his relationship with the woman if Copeland didn't give him $500.
A report reveals that police set up a sting at Pizza Hut in Bordeaux, leaving $500 in an undercover vehicle. When Johnson and another man, Cortez Smith, came to pick up the cash, police arrested them for extortion.
Channel 4 visited the firefighters' homes on Friday to get their side of the story, but no one came to the door.
Young said while he wants a thorough investigation, he believes two of the firefighters should be cleared right away. Firefighter Darrin Bell wasn't at the station when the alleged incidents occurred and Cpt. James Overton was asleep.
There is still many details to be uncovered. Is the woman making these claims telling the truth about being drugged and statements regarding strippers and sex?
Channel 4 spoke to the woman making the claims on Friday, and she was not ready to comment. Police said her story has been inconsistent.
Previous Nashville firefighter investigations
This trouble is just the latest scandal that's plagued the Nashville Fire Department in recent years. Many of the problems were first uncovered by the Channel 4 I-Team.
In 2010, Channel 4 exposed that Cpt. Jeff Piercy was broadcasting himself via webcam on a porn website while inside Fire Hall 23. Piercy was docked 10 days of pay for that incident.
In 2011, the I-Team uncovered that paramedic Robert Plummer had actually served jail time for domestic violence convictions while employed by the fire department but had never told his supervisors.
His supervisors thought he was on medical leave, and once they learned the truth, he was terminated.
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