Anthony Damiano, a captain at Polk County Fire Rescue, reportedly took three syringes containing doses of Moderna’s vaccine, with the intent of delivering doses to his elderly mother, according to an arrest affidavit.
Damiano surrendered on Wednesday afternoon, the affidavit said.
He has been charged with petit theft and causing another person to falsify official records as a civil servant. According to prisoner records, he was released on bail from Polk County Jail.
CNN has unsuccessfully tried to contact him for comment.
Damiano is the second person arrested in this case. Earlier this week, paramedic Joshua Colon was arrested for his alleged role in falsifying vaccine screening and consent forms that officials say “triggered the circumstance” that led to the theft.
According to the affidavit, Colon told investigators Damiano was “joking with him” about getting some doses for his mother, telling the paramedic he could report them as “trash.”
Colon says that when he refused to give him the vaccine, Damiano threatened to “tell his executives that Colon sells vaccines outside of work,” the sheriff’s affidavit said.
“Colon stated that he was frightened because of Captain Damiano’s rank on the service,” the affidavit said.
Damiano ordered Colon to take a break, and when he returned to the station, three doses of vaccine were missing from the refrigerator where it was stored, according to Colon’s statement to the investigators.
Colon then “made up the stories and the false documents” to explain the missing doses, Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd said at a news conference Tuesday.
Colon’s attorney, David R. Carmichael, told CNN in a statement that Colon was “in a very difficult situation when a supervisor demanded that Mr. Colon provide unauthorized doses of Covid vaccine for use by the supervisor’s family.”
Colon “deeply regrets his weakness in not alerting the chain of command to the theft of the vaccine,” said Carmichael.
According to the affidavit, two of the doses were later found in Damiano’s car. They were no longer viable, according to Polk County Fire Rescue Chief Robert Weech.
Damiano’s mother told investigators her son had tried to help vaccinate her, the affidavit said. She said she had not received the vaccine and believed he was “trying to help her get the vaccine legally.”
Damiano resigned from the Polk County Fire Rescue before surrendering to authorities, said Chris Jonckheer, spokesman for the department.
Colon has also resigned, Weech said earlier this week.