More fallout has been revealed in connection to a San Jose fire captain arrested for allegedly stealing drugs off fire trucks.
NBC Bay Area obtained a letter to the San Jose fire chief from County EMS alleging the city may have known since 2023 that drugs were being mishandled, but never reported it. The fire union is demanding accountability after being shown the letter.
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WATCH HERE"Any allegation that comes out of any sort of investigation, we want to make sure that it's followed through," said Capt. Jerry May, president of San Jose Firefighters Local 230. "We are held to the highest standard as fire paramedics and firefighters, and we want to make sure that the same accountability level is held not just for firefighters, but also the administration, to the city."
In the letter, the EMS director said not only do these incidents pose a significant public safety risk, policy violation, and involve potential violation of federal law, but the lack of notification to the EMS agency substantially compounds the risk to the public.
"That's what we took an oath to do," May said. "Protect the city of San Jose. And we want to do that to the best of our ability."
Every fire truck and fire engine in San Jose contains a drug box protected by a locked cable, and only a firefighter-paramedic and the battalion chief would have access to the key to unlock. Inside is a sealed smaller box containing morphine and versed, a sedative used to treat anxiety and seizures, among other things.
The smaller box containing the drugs is what the district attorney said SJFD Capt. Mark Moalem was tampering with at 17 fire stations.
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SIGN UP By law, any controlled substance missing from a fire rig has to be reported to County EMS, the custodian of drugs on all fire rigs.
County EMS gave the SJFD chief until June 6 to respond to its long list of demands for records and data.
NBC Bay Area is still waiting for a response to questions from the fire chief.
The mayor is deferring all comments to the city manager.
