A man named “Paramedic of the Year” in 2020 was arrested Monday for allegedly playing a role in stealing doses of the coronavirus vaccine.
Joshua Colon, 21, of Florida, admitted to falsifying paperwork to cover up three syringes of Moderna coronavirus vaccine from his supervisor, NBC News reported. Colon is charged with forgery, fraud and misconduct.
Colon was named Paramedic of the Year in 2020 by the Roundtable of Presidents in Polk County, Florida. He resigned his position on Friday.
Polk County Fire Rescue Captain Anthony Damiano, Colon’s supervisor, reportedly made fun of wanting a vaccine for his mother, and threatened Colon for not giving him the vaccines. The captain then ordered Colon to take a break, after which three pre-filled syringes containing the vaccine disappeared.
Colon then forged the paperwork when asked to provide documents for the vaccines.
Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd said at a news conference that the forgery was discovered when “discrepancies” were noted on three separate vaccine forms filled out by Colon. The paramedic had been given three vials of the vaccine to administer to Polk County emergency responders, NBC News reported.
Authorities contacted some of the people listed on the forms as recipients of the vaccine, but found that none of them had been immunized.
“Basically, Joshua was trying to cover the captain, Joshua made sure the vaccines were stolen,” Judd said. “If Joshua had just gone to his boss he would have been the hero, but instead he started faking paperwork by making up people who didn’t exist to cover it up.”
Speaking to NBC News, a Polk County sheriff’s spokesman said the charges against Damiano were “imminent” and that he was currently at large.
Mr. Colon deeply regrets his weakness in failing to warn the Chain of Command of the theft of the vaccine, accepts responsibility for his mistake in concealing the theft, and in an effort to protect his agency’s reputation, he has resigned his position. said David Carmichael, a lawyer who represents Colon.