NASHVILLE, TN (WSMV) -
Investigators described in court Thursday how they took down two men charged with trying to extort a Nashville firefighter, and it's all tied to a sex scandal that later unfolded in the fire department.
Ray Johnson and Cortez Smith are charged in the case, which began when police interviewed a woman who claimed she was drugged at a firefighter's home. That woman later told detectives that she witnessed women stripping and performing sex acts for money at Fire Station 24 in Bordeaux.
Police then talked to that firefighter, Jason Copeland, who told them that he was being threatened with extortion by a man who knew the woman.
So investigators then set up a sting.
"We had an undercover police vehicle. SID techs put a camera in back seat of the vehicle. And the plan was to put the $500 in the glovebox of the vehicle and leave it unlocked at the Pizza Hut location," said an undercover detective, whose identity we are not releasing.
Copeland got out of the car, and investigators say about 15 minutes later the suspects took the bait. Officers then arrested them on the spot and recovered the marked money.
During Thursday's hearing the detective testified that the suspects pretty much admitted to the allegations.
"He stated that he got greedy and that he was just trying to scare the victim into giving him $500," the detective said.
In the end, the judge found sufficient evidence to send the case against Johnson and Smith to the grand jury.
As for the alleged lewd behavior at the fire hall, five firefighters remain on administrative leave pending an internal investigation.
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