(KRON) -- Prosecutors charged a veteran San Jose Fire Department captain with stealing drugs from his own fire department. Mark Moalem, 45, of Gilroy, stole vials of narcotic painkillers and sedatives from 17 fire stations and trucks, according to prosecutors.
Moalem will make his first court appearance Monday afternoon at the Hall of Justice in San Jose to face felony charges.
Investigators said Moalem's thefts left paramedics without morphine at emergency scenes for patients who were injured or ill. The fire captain allegedly tried to cover up his crimes by filling empty vials with a different substance.
On April 14, "A paramedic alerted (authorities) that morphine from another fire house was given to a patient earlier that same day that appeared to have no effect on the patient’s pain. It was suspected the drugs had been removed from the vials and replaced with another substance," the Santa Clara County District Attorney's Office wrote.
Moalem is a 22-year veteran with the San Jose Fire Department. SJFD officials were well aware of his prior history with drug addiction, which included overdosing on the job and spending time in rehab, according to records obtained by KRON4.
"The community puts their lives in the hands of first responders during emergencies," District Attorney Jeff Rosen said. "There is no excuse for violating the trust and safety of Santa Clara County residents."
If convicted, the fire captain could face prison time, the DA's office said.
San Jose Police Department officers launched an investigation into the fire captain in April. They discovered that a vial of morphine had been tampered with at Station 4 off Leigh Avenue. "In addition to the damaged vial, an audit of all 34 fire stations concluded that vials of morphine and midazolam, a benzodiazepine, had been tampered with at 17 separate fire stations throughout the city," the DA's office wrote.
SJPD officers used its automatic license plate reader system to track Moalem’s vehicle and whereabouts around the time that a box of narcotics was stolen from one station. The driver in the images matched Moalem, prosecutors said.
"Moalem was also seen on April 8, 2025, at Station 29, a fire house he was not assigned to, in between two fire trucks near where a narcotics box is kept. He was off duty at the time," the DA's office wrote.
San Francisco police officer arrested for DUI crashOnce officers searched the fire captain's house in Gilroy, they found a large stash of needles, six SJFD-marked vial caps for morphine, four SJFD-marked vials of midazolam, four SJFD-marked vial caps for midazolam, and four bags of IV saline solution.
Moalem's last day working was on April 15, city officials said. He is currently on leave.
Records from California Emergency Medical Services Authority state that Moalem was on duty and working as a firefighter for SJFP when he was found unconscious inside a bathroom on November 22, 2013. An empty syringe and morphine vial were next to him. After Moalem was rushed to a hospital, he told police that he was addicted to opiates, according to EMSA’s report.
After his 2013 overdose, Moalem was arrested for possession of a controlled substance and being under the influence of an opiate. The fire captain returned to work after completing a rehab program for drug addiction, records show.
In 2015, an interim fire chief testified that Moalem was an excellent and highly skilled paramedic who remained calm under pressure. At the time, he had no record of stealing drugs while on the job, EMSA’s report states. Several members of SJDF also testified that Moalem was a trustworthy, responsible, and dependable firefighter.
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