A San Jose fire captain has been charged for stealing narcotics meant to help emergency patients
Mark Moalem, 45, of Gilroy, is alleged to have tampered with and taken vials of morphine and midazolam from the San Jose Fire Department. The 22-year veteran of the Fire Department is charged with stealing narcotic painkillers and sedatives from a locked box in a fire station.
These controlled medical drugs, which are kept secured inside fire engines, are used by paramedics to treat the ill or injured.
“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.”
On April 14, 2025, San Jose firefighters reported a vial of morphine was found to have been tampered with at Station 4 off Leigh Avenue. A paramedic alerted 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. 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. In some instances, it was suspected the drugs had been removed from the vials and replaced with another substance. The audit also revealed a box containing narcotics vials was missing from a fire truck.
Further investigation by the San Jose Police Department using a license plate reader system tracked Moalem’s vehicle in the vicinity of the fire station during the time frame the narcotics box is alleged to have been stolen from Station 4. The driver in the images matched Moalem’s description.
Evidence shows that Moalem was previously arrested for possession of a controlled substance and under the influence of an opiate in 2013. He was employed with SJFD at the time. He was also a suspect in a 2023 incident when a bottle of morphine was stolen from a fire station. Moalem was 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.
A search warrant for Moalem’s residence produced: a large quantity of needles, six SJFD vial caps for morphine, four SJFD vials of midazolam, four SJFD vial caps for midazolam, and four bags of IV saline solution, three of which appeared to have been used.
The fire captain is currently on leave.
