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A man who was named “Paramedic of the Year 2020” was arrested Monday for allegedly playing a role in the theft of doses of the coronavirus vaccine.
Joshua Colon, 21, of Florida, admitted to falsifying paperwork in order to cover up the theft by his supervisor of three syringes of the Moderna coronavirus vaccine, NBC News reported. Colon faces charges of counterfeiting, fraud and misconduct.
Colon was named Paramedic of the Year in 2020 by the Presidents’ Roundtable in Polk County, Florida. He resigned from his post on Friday.
Captain Anthony Damiano, supervisor of Colon, reportedly joked about wanting a vaccine for his mother, threatening Colon when he hadn’t given her the shots. The captain then ordered Colon to take a break, after which three pre-filled syringes of the vaccine were missing.
Colon then falsified the paperwork when asked to provide documents for the vaccines.
Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd told a news conference that the falsification was discovered when “discrepancies” were found on three separate vaccine forms completed by Colon. The paramedic had received three vials of the vaccine to administer to Polk County first responders, 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 vaccinated.
“In the end Joshua tried to cover for the captain, Joshua set up the circumstances for the vaccines to be stolen,” Judd said. “If Joshua had just gone to his boss at that point, he would have been the hero, but instead he started faking the paperwork by inventing people who didn’t exist to cover it up.
Speaking to NBC News, a spokesperson for the Polk County Sheriff said charges against Damiano were “imminent” and he was currently at large.
“Mr. Colon deeply regrets his weakness in failing to alert the chain of command to the theft of the vaccine, accepts responsibility for his mistake in covering up the theft and, in an effort to protect his agency’s reputation, has resigned of his post. Said David Carmichael, a lawyer representing Colon.
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