Mark DeSalvo

Mark DeSalvo worked at the Department of Defense's level three detention facility in Saugus, California.

Before Day 1
DeSalvo was born thirty-six years before Day 1. Prior to that day, he became the warden of a level three DoD detention facility in Saugus, California.

Day 1
At 7:16pm Jack Bauer set off the alarm at the detention center. DeSalvo questioned Jack, asking how he found it and why he is there. Jack detailed the Palmer assassination attempt and clarified for DeSalvo that someone from the power company was bribed to cut off the facility’s electricity at 7:20pm. DeSalvo acknowledged to Jack that a prisoner is being dropped there at that time, but the prisoner’s name is classified. Jack begged DeSalvo to call for backup in the five minutes before the delivery. Until then, Jack asked that the civilians on the premises be issued gear so that it appeared to be fully secure.

At 7:19pm the helicopter approached, and Jack, DeSalvo and the men from the facility came out from underground with their weapons raised. The lights from the facility guided the helicopter. After nothing went wrong with the prisoner handoff at the detention facility, DeSalvo questioned whether Jack’s claims are really on the level. Jack asked to speak to the prisoner, and DeSalvo tells him that approval goes over his head. DeSalvo caught Jack sneaking into a room and looking at live feeds of the prisoner and admonished him for breaching security. Jack realized that the prisoner was Victor Drazen, the man he thought he killed two years ago in Kosovo. Jack explained to DeSalvo that he was sent to take out Victor Drazen two years ago, but Victor’s wife and daughter were accidentally killed. Victor’s sons tried to enact revenge by going after Jack’s family. If Victor managed to escape, then not only David Palmer but also Teri and Kim Bauer would remain in jeopardy.

DeSalvo wondered why Victor Drazen was being secretly held if the government had wanted him dead. Jack realized that they had wanted the rest of the world to believe he was dead, and Jack was meant to fail on his Kosovo mission 2 years ago. DeSalvo got a call from his superiors giving Jack permission to interrogate the prisoner. DeSalvo, watched Jack’s interrogation on the monitors and agreed to move Victor. Jack asked DeSalvo to prepare the men and used a way out that was not on the camera schematic. Jack, DeSalvo and the guards hustled Victor Drazen down the corridor, and the lights in the facility flickered and then faded. “They’re here,” Victor warned Jack as DeSalvo got worried. Then, Jack and DeSalvo led Victor Drazen down one of the underground hallways. Suddenly, an explosion blasted an entrance. Jack and DeSalvo retreated back into the facility with their prisoner. Victor's son, Andre Drazen, and his team entered the detention hallway and found Jack with his gun trained on Victor. They in turn held DeSalvo at gunpoint, and Jack relented in the standoff. As he released Victor, Andre shot DeSalvo anyway, killing him on the spot.

Memorable quotes

 * Mark DeSalvo: (his last lines) Don't release that prisoner! Don't do it, Bauer, don't do it!

Background information and notes

 * This character was named after the winner of an auction set up by 24's producers to raise money for the families of victims of the September 11 terrorist attacks. The real Mark DeSalvo, a Manhattan stockbroker, paid $5,200 to have his name appear on the show. See also Rae Plachecki and Melissa Rabb.