Nine defendants have been arrested and charged in a violent racketeering and extortion conspiracy over control of First Response Cleaning Corp., a fire clean-up services company. According to the indictment, the defendants, some of whom are members of the street gang Bloods, had been controlling First Response and used it to extort other companies and insurance professionals. The gang members used force, threats of force and even threats of death to try to control the fire mitigation industry in the city, dictating which companies absorbed which losses and forcing individuals to file false insurance claims. Extortion victims were forced to pay in order to keep themselves and their families safe and to function without harassment by the gang.