A man who was named “paramedic of the year” in 2020 was arrested on Monday for allegedly playing a role in stealing coronavirus vaccine doses.
Joshua Colon, 21, of Florida, admitted to falsifying documents to hide surveillance of the theft of three syringes from the Moderna coronavirus vaccine, NBC News reported. Colon faces charges of forgery, fraud and misconduct.
Colon was named paramedic of the year in 2020 by the table of the president of Polk County, Florida, who resigned on Friday.
Polk County Fire Rescue Captain Anthony Damiano, Colonial Supervisor, he would have joked about wanting a vaccine for his mother, threatening Colon when he didn’t give her the vaccines. The captain then ordered Colon to take a break, after which three pre-filled syringes of the vaccine disappeared.
Colon falsified documents when asked to provide documents for vaccines.
Sheriff Grady Judd of Polk County said during a news conference that the fake was discovered when “discrepancies” were observed on three separate vaccine forms completed by Colon. The paramedic was given three vials of vaccine to be given to the first respondents in Polk County, NBC News reported.
Authorities contacted some of the people listed on the forms as recipients of the vaccine, only to find that none of them had been immunized.
“The bottom line is that Joshua tried to cover up the captain, and Joshua set the circumstances for the vaccines to be stolen,” Judd said. “If Joshua had simply gone to his boss right then he would have been the hero, but instead he began to falsify the papers by forming people who did not exist to cover them.”
Speaking to NBC News, a spokesman for the Polk County sheriff said the charges against Damiano were “imminent” and that he was currently at large.
“Mr Colon deeply regrets his weakness in not alerting the chain of command to vaccine theft, takes responsibility for his mistake in covering up the theft and, in an effort to protect his agency’s reputation, resigned. from office, “said David Carmichael, a lawyer representing Colon.