Nightclub operator Joe Cooke told a Federal Court jury on Monday that he made a number of cash payments to Chattanooga Police Sgt. Gerry Davis to back off on harassing his customers.
Witnesses also said that Davis aggressively pursued women at local nightclubs, sometimes touching them inappropriately against their wishes.
Cooke also said he made payments to former city police Lt. John Bradford to "fix DUI tickets."
Gerry Davis remains on the police force on leave. He is being tried on extortion charges in the courtroom of Judge Curtis Collier.
John Bradford retired from the city police, and defense attorney Mike Caputo said he has moved to Las Vegas. He has not been charged.
Cooke, who earlier entered guilty pleas to arson and is awaiting sentencing, said he paid Davis $1,000 to $2,000, usually in increments of $100, over a lengthy period.
He said Davis would sometimes be handed cash, or the money would be put in a plastic cup and dropped in his patrol car.
Cooke said Bradford was also paid to work security for him. He said for the first year and a half that he worked for him, it was an approved job for him. He said when he was no longer approved to work at the club, that money would be put in a plastic cup and dropped in his car.
He said Bradford had helped him take out warrants against his girlfriend after they got in a brawl at the club he was operating on Brainerd Road - The Drink.
Cooke said several other city police officers worked security for him as did a current federal DEA agent. He did not mention any of those getting payoffs.
Defense attorney Caputo said in an opening statement that Cooke was paying off numerous police officers, but that only Davis has been charged.
Attorney Caputo said Davis did find $100 payments in his car several times after visiting one of Cooke's clubs. He said Davis "just wasn't sure how to handle it."
He said on Dec. 7, 2003, Davis went to Cooke and wrote him a $400 check to cover those amounts.
Prosecutor Gary Humble told the jury it will be "a very disappointing case because it involves a dirty cop."
He said Davis had a long history of getting payments from Cooke in exchange for not harassing patrons at his clubs.
He said Davis would go into the clubs, stare at patrons, and stop them near the club. He claimed he backed off those actions if he got paid cash.
The prosecutor said Cooke and Davis were "big buddies." He said Davis was at the home of Cooke numerous times.
He said on one occasion when Cooke and a girlfriend got into a fight that Davis persuaded a young officer not to take them in to the jail.
Prosecutor Humble said Davis gave the $400 check to Cooke after getting a tip from another nightclub operator, Darrin Webb, that Cooke's bouncer, Michael Knaby, was wired and working with the FBI.
Attorney Caputo said Joe Cooke "was paying people right and left."
He said those paid allegedly included a DEA agent and a Chattanooga police lieutenant.
He said, "Joe Cooke is telling on everybody."
He said Cooke's statements include discussion of "cocaine habits and sexual habits" of those he allegedly paid.
He said Cooke had "a police friend of his working security on his payroll."
Attorney Caputo said Davis lives in a modest residence and drives a 10-year-old Corvette. He said he was at Cooke's house once for a birthday party.
He said several of the money dropoffs to Davis were put in his car by Knaby. He said after a fourth payment came from Cooke himself, Davis decided he needed to write the check.
Cooke, a 32-year-old Baylor School graduate, said he first was an accountant, but he decided to go into the nightclub business. He had worked as a bartender while attending UTC.
He said he became a bartender at Berlin's on Brainerd Road, then became co-owner of Tramps in 1997. He became sole owner of Flashbacks in October of 1998 and later operated Chattanooga Food and Drink (The Drink).
He said he met Davis in 1993 or 1994 while bartending at Berlin's. He said Davis has been to his house "a couple, three, four or five times."
He said he called him by his first name.
He said Davis, who was promoted to sergeant by former Police Chief Jimmie Dotson, would drink heavily at the club. He said he would have a double of the strongest drink - a Long Island Tea. He said he would have up to 10 drinks a night and never paid for any of the drinks.
He also said Davis, who is single, "would aggressively approach women." He said Davis would have him introduce him "to girls who caught his eye." He said the police sergeant would hang around for "after hours parties."
He said Davis would come to the club sometimes in uniform and sometimes while off duty. He said he would stop by often, though it was out of his sector.
Cooke said when he (Cooke) would get drunk at the club that Davis would follow him home to make sure he did not get pulled over.
The witness, who was in handcuffs and leg irons, said while he was operating Tramps that Davis would stare at customers as they left and would often stop them as they drove off. He said patrons began to complain about it.
Cooke said, "It really started to take a toll on the business. I offered him money to stop. I had to do what I had to do. It was much easier to pay him than to contend with the consequences."
He said things got much better after he paid Davis, but he said later Davis began to harass patrons again.
He said when that happened, "My manager would tell me, 'It looks like it's time to pay him again.'"
Cooke was asked by attorney Caputo about an incident when Cooke got into it with his girlfriend, Jamie Fletcher, at The Drink. Cooke acknowledged he was married at the time and still is.
Cooke said he had directed that Ms. Fletcher not be allowed at the club, but he said she showed up and dumped mulch inside his Porsche. Cooke, who said he was drunk at the time, said he tore up the dashboard on her vehicle.
He said a young officer, Cory West, was going to take him in, but Davis intervened and neither he nor the girlfriend was arrested.
Cooke was also questioned by the defense attorney about a remark he made that was secretly taped. It happened at the time Davis paid him the $400 check. Cooke states to Davis, "Nobody's ever given you anything." He said on the tape that if anyone did, he would fire them.
Cooke said he was nervous on that occasion that he might be about to get arrested. He said he had heard rumors that the FBI was doing an investigation.
The tape was made by Cooke's bouncer, Michael Knaby. Cooke said he did not know that Knaby was working with the FBI at the time.
Matthew Warnock, who worked for Cooke for several months in 2000, testified that he saw Davis being paid cash on several occasions.
He said he did not know the amounts, but he said it was a stack of bills. He said he saw a $20 bill on the side of one stack.
He said the manager who made the alleged payments to Davis "reached down in a bag to get it like he had it set aside."
Warnock, who earlier entered guilty pleas to arson and is also awaiting sentencing, said Davis "seemed to really like the ladies." He said he was involved in "aggressive touching."
He told of one incident in which he said the police sergeant pressed a woman against the bar from behind. He said, "She gave me a look like 'help.'" He said he distracted Davis and the woman got away from him.
Warnock said he never charged Davis for drinks, saying Cooke had told him not to worry about it.
The trial continues Tuesday at 9 a.m.