A Florida paramedic helped a supervisor steal coronavirus vaccines, sheriff officials said on Tuesday, falsifying documents and trying to cover up his superior after the captain allegedly took three shots for the first respondents.
Joshua Colon, who was named “Paramedic of the Year” in 2020 by the Polk County Fire Department, was arrested on Monday after the 31-year-old admitted falsifying documents after three doses of vaccine were removed from a refrigerator, they said the authorities.
Colon, who was tasked with giving the vaccine to firefighters at a Davenport station, told investigators that Captain Anthony Damiano “joked” about getting some of the vaccines for his mother. Later that day, the captain allegedly told Colon to go to lunch, and Colon returned to find a plastic bag that was stored with three empty doses with a broken seal.
Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd said Colon did not confront the captain about missed doses or contact other supervisors, but instead tried to cover up the captain.
“If Joshua had just looked for his boss right there, he would have been a hero,” Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd said at a news conference on Tuesday. “Instead, he started to fake paper, inventing people who didn’t exist to cover it up.”
Judd said Damiano should be arrested and charged with the stolen vaccines, but the captain was sent to California to help increase COVID-19 cases in the state.
Investigators hope to contact the captain on Tuesday night.
The sheriff’s investigators said they learned of the theft after firefighters found discrepancies in Florida Health’s COVID-19 Vaccine Screening and Consent Forms that Colon had sent.
Colon registered 23 recipients at the Davenport station, but gave only 21 forms.
After trying to obtain the forms, a battalion chief in the department noticed misspellings and missing birth dates. Frustrated, he decided to call one of the alleged recipients to fill out the form.
After contacting the fireman, Sheriff Judd said, the fireman said he had not received the vaccine and was no longer a department fireman.
Colon met with the investigators with his lawyer.
“He said, ‘Hey, I want to cooperate fully. I totally embarrassed the firemen and forged the paperwork,'” said Judd.
Colon reportedly told investigators that his supervisor had threatened to accuse him of selling doses of vaccines on the streets.
As part of the investigation, Colon later called the captain to tell him that he had problems with the missed vaccines and asked the captain to return them.
During the call, Damiano reportedly told Colon that he was on a mission in California, but that the vaccines were in his car at a friend’s home in St. Cloud.
Damiano texted his friend to get the vaccines out of the trunk of the car and put them in the front seat for Colon, officials said. According to Judd, Damiano also “joked” with his friend, texting her: “Maybe you want to wipe the bag’s fingerprints.”
“We recovered two doses,” said Judd. “We still don’t know where a syringe and dose are.”
In addition to the accusations related to vaccine theft, Judd said, Damiano should also be charged with abuse of authority.
“He might as well give in,” said Judd. “The deal is over. You go to jail.”