ATLANTA — A defense attorney is speaking out on behalf of one of two Atlanta firefighters accused of orchestrating an arson scheme to defraud an insurance company.

Atlanta Fire Captain Adrian Strickland and firefighter Alvin Cox are both facing arson charges after investigators say they conspired to set Cox’s Hyundai Elantra on fire and report it as stolen to collect an insurance payout.

According to court documents, surveillance footage did not support Cox’s stolen vehicle claim. Investigators also allege that Strickland’s phone was tracked near the location of the burned vehicle and that he accessed reports about the fire more than a dozen times.

Strickland’s attorney, J. Kevin Franks, says the allegations are shocking and insists his client is innocent.

“Adrian Strickland is a firefighter’s firefighter,” Franks said. “When all is said and done, I expect that he will be exonerated. We don’t know if this is motivated by politics or infighting in the fire department, but what we do know is that Adrian Strickland has done nothing wrong.”

Franks added that they are awaiting a possible grand jury indictment and cautioned against a rush to judgment.

“It begs the question as to whether or not someone jumped the gun in unfairly charging Adrian Strickland,” he said. “But we’ll see.”

Both men remain under investigation as the case develops.

WSB’s Veronica Waters contributed to this story