SAN JOSE — A San Jose Fire Department captain has been criminally charged following his arrest last month on suspicion of stealing morphine and other narcotics from a fire station, with authorities revealing more instances as the result of an ongoing investigation, prosecutors announced Monday.
Mark Moalem, a 45-year-old Gilroy resident and 23-year SJFD veteran, was arrested April 17 following a San Jose Police Department investigation. The Santa Clara County District Attorney’s Office has since charged him with several crimes, and he is currently out of custody.
Moalem, who is on leave from the fire agency, was scheduled to be arraigned Monday.
“The community puts their lives in the hands of first responders during emergencies,” District Attorney Jeff Rosen said in a statement. “There is no excuse for violating the trust and safety of Santa Clara County residents.”
Three days before his arrest, the fire department said it alerted police after an inspection and restock of fire station medications at Station 4 on Leigh Avenue discovered that a vial of morphine in a lockbox was tampered with, which coincided with a paramedic reporting earlier that day that a dose of morphine had no effect on a patient.
Investigators suspect that someone, presumed to be Moalem, was removing narcotics from similar vials — containing morphine and also midazolam and benzodiazapene — and substituting an inert substance.
Officials said a fire station audit yielded evidence that vials of the drugs had been tampered with at 17 of the city’s 34 fire stations, and that a box of vials was missing from a city fire truck. The police investigation also found Moalem’s car being present near Station 4 when the box went missing, and that surveillance images of the driver resembled Moalem.
Prosecutors also said Monday that investigators determined that on April 8, nine days before his arrest, Moalem was seen off duty at Station 29 — where he was not assigned — between two fire trucks near where a narcotics box was kept.
Related Articles
CHP: Man dies after jumping off Highway 101 overpass and is struck by a vehicle Convicted killer sentenced in 1982 murder of 14-year-old Bay Area girl Santa Cruz Fire Department rescue man trapped in motel Crews battling 50-acre brush fire near Brentwood Chemicals ignite $1 million South Bay apartment complex fireA search warrant served at Moalem’s home reportedly led to the recovery of six fire department vial caps for morphine, four department vials of midazolam and four department caps of midozolam, four bags of IV solution and “a large quantity of needles.”
According to the fire department, Moalem joined SJFD in 2002 and was charged with possession of a controlled substance and other drug offenses in 2013 but ultimately received a deferred judgment, meaning his conviction was suspended in exchange for completing a court-ordered rehabilitation program. Moalem narrowly kept his paramedic license and was disciplined by the city, and was randomly drug tested for several years.
Prosecutors said Monday that Moalem was also suspected in the discovery of a missing morphine bottle from a fire station two years ago. There was no indication Monday that this was reported to or investigated by police.
This is a developing story. Check back for updates.
Read More Details
Finally We wish PressBee provided you with enough information of ( San Jose: Fire captain criminally charged with narcotics theft from stations )
Also on site :
- Billboard’s 2025 Global Power Players Revealed
- 'Sister Wives' Kody Brown Digs Son Garrison's Grave in Heart Wrenching Gesture: 'Last Ode to My Boy'
- Amazon’s Best-Selling Power Bank Is Now Nearly Free, 76K Reviews Can’t Be Wrong