A Florida man named the paramedic of the year in 2020 admitted to investigators that he played a role in the alleged theft of doses of the coronavirus vaccine, Polk County sheriff said on Tuesday.
Joshua Colon, 21, was arrested on Monday and faces charges of forgery, fraud and misconduct after admitting he forged paperwork to cover up what he said was the theft of a supervisor from three pre-filled syringes of the Modern Covid vaccine. -19.
At a news conference, Polk County sheriff Grady Judd said the authorities noted that there were “discrepancies” and “total confusion” in three vaccine forms completed by Colon, who received three vials filled with the vaccine on January 6. to administer to Polk County’s first respondents.
Authorities contacted several of the vaccine recipients’ names on the forms and found that they were former firefighters who said they had never received a dose.
Judd said the 2020 Paramedic of the Year later “confessed” and began cooperating with investigators, admitting to using false names for “fraudulent” and “wrong” reasons.
Colon said he did so at the request of his supervisor, Polk County fire rescue captain Anthony Damiano.
Colon told investigators that Damiano joked about wanting a vaccine for his mother and then threatened him when Colon declined to give the vaccine.
Damiano ordered Colon to take a break, after which three pre-filled syringes disappeared from a sealed bag in the refrigerator.
“Colon warned that he did not question his supervisor regarding the missing vaccines, however, he immediately suspected,” said a statement from the Polk County Sheriff’s Office. “Colon did not report this incident to anyone within Polk County Fire Rescue.”
However, when asked to present the paperwork, Colon forged the documents and said he had given doses to people who never received them.
“The investigation is ongoing, including the supervisor’s role in the theft of vaccines and the creation of fraudulent and false medical records,” said Polk County Sheriff in the statement.
Contacted by phone on Tuesday afternoon, a spokesman for the Polk County sheriff said the charges against Damiano were “imminent” and that he was on the run.
“The end result is that Joshua tried to cover up the captain, Joshua created the circumstance for the vaccines to have been stolen. If Joshua had simply sought out his boss at that time, he would have been the hero, but instead started to fake the paperwork by doing for cover up people who didn’t exist, “Judd said at a news conference on Tuesday.
Colon resigned on Friday and was arrested on Monday.
In a statement, David Carmichael, Colon’s lawyer, said he faced a “very difficult situation” after his supervisor allegedly demanded that he provide the vaccines.
“Mr. Colon deeply regrets his weakness in not alerting the Chain of Command about vaccine theft, accepts responsibility for his mistake in covering up the theft and, in an effort to protect his agency’s reputation, resigned his position,” Said Carmichael.
