Zack Masri
Introduction
Zack Masri is a 40-year-old former assistant chief in the Dallas County Fire Marshal’s Office who turned himself in to Wylie police on October 6, 2026, after Texas Rangers accused him of theft and abuse of official capacity, then bonded out the same day on $15,000. His arrest came four months after the county fired him for a series of workplace infractions documented in personnel records — including pointing a gun at a colleague in a “joking” manner and calling female co-workers “bitches” — and he is appealing that termination.
Background Information
Masri worked for the Dallas County Fire Marshal’s Office for nearly six years and was responsible for overseeing its building security division — a unit with 107 positions and a $15 million budget this fiscal year, dwarfing the Fire Marshal’s 12 positions and $2.8 million budget. The division has drawn scrutiny for testing the limits of its power, and state lawmakers and the Texas commission overseeing law enforcement raised concerns last year that the office acts more like a security force than a fire safety agency.
The Controversy or Incident That Led to Their Cancellation
Charged, not convicted. Masri faces misdemeanor and felony theft and abuse-of-office charges that have not been tried. He denies the accusations and is presumed innocent unless proven guilty.
Wylie Police Sgt. Donald English said Masri was charged with three counts of misdemeanor abuse of official capacity — the offense covering a public servant violating a law relating to their office under the Texas penal code — plus misdemeanor theft of property worth $100 to $750 and felony theft of property between $2,500 and $30,000. The arrest warrant issued by the Dallas County Sheriff’s Office detailing the alleged incidents was not immediately available, and it remains unclear whether the charges are tied to his June 8 termination, though they relate to his time as a county employee.
The firing that preceded the arrest grew out of a documented 2026 pattern. In February, after the sheriff’s office was chosen to lead a multi-agency active-shooter drill, Masri drafted an email in the voice of County Commissioner Theresa Daniel — stating the appointment was made “despite the direction I previously provided” — and had it hand-delivered to her; she sent it to the commissioners’ court. He received verbal counseling after an HR investigation, and a county administrator then asked HR to investigate further.
In April, a firearm instructor reported that Masri had unholstered his gun around others in a “sul position” at the county administration building; an assistant chief’s internal review said Masri pulled the gun “in a joking” manner, and a captain who intervened recounted telling him: “What are you doing? Put that away.” Masri received a written warning May 7. Security systems analyst Allen Rucker separately complained that Masri entered his office, picked an argument, cursed at him, called female colleagues “bitches,” and made a comment Rucker took as a threat; records do not indicate whether that complaint was investigated. The HR investigation into the ghost-written email concluded May 19, and Masri was fired June 8 for violating employee conduct rules and insubordination from his $160,000-a-year job.
Public Reaction and Consequences
Masri’s attorney, Mark Lassiter, said Texas Rangers from the Department of Public Safety were leading the criminal investigation and that his client “is not guilty of the accusations. While we understand the process, we look forward to proving Zack’s innocence.” Masri is appealing the termination.
The arrest of a former assistant chief from an office already under state-level scrutiny landed as confirmation, in local coverage, of the cultural problems lawmakers had flagged — a security division whose assistant chief accumulated gun-handling, slur, and ghost-writing infractions in a single year before facing criminal charges.
Current Status
Masri is out on bond after posting $15,000 at the Wylie jail, with the criminal case pending and the details of the alleged thefts still sealed inside an unavailable warrant. His termination appeal runs on a separate track from the criminal case.
Whether prosecutors present the felony theft count to a grand jury, what the warrant says about the alleged incidents, and how the termination appeal resolves remain open questions. Masri did not respond to questions from The Dallas Morning News sent to him or his lawyers before the arrest.
Impact on Their Career/Life
A $160,000-a-year county career is gone — fired in June for insubordination, criminally charged in October, and appealing a termination his own personnel file made difficult to overturn. For the Dallas County Fire Marshal’s Office, the case puts its most powerful division’s leadership conduct on the public record at the exact moment state oversight bodies were already questioning whether the office should wield police-style authority at all.
Sources
- Firehouse (Dallas Morning News/TNS): “Former Dallas County Fire Marshal Arrested for Theft, Abuse of Official Capacity” source