Man accused of stealing 100 vials of J&J COVID vaccine is arrested in Washington
Dozens of COVID-19 vaccine vials were destroyed after a burglary at a dentist’s office, Washington police said.
Now a man has been arrested in the crime, according to the Pierce County Sheriff’s Department.
The sheriff’s department put out an alert on social media last week, announcing 100 vials of Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine had been stolen overnight Thursday or early Friday morning from a Purdy dental office.
More than $100,000 in medical equipment and a vial of Botox were also stolen, according to the department.
The sheriff’s department posted Wednesday on Facebook that a 30-year-old man has been arrested in the incident, as well as a burglary at a nearby salon last Wednesday.
The suspect broke through the wall of the beauty salon in the 14000 block of Purdy Drive NW and stole all of the salon’s products, hairstyling tools and even the towels, the owner told sheriff’s deputies.
The owner estimated her loss at $50,000, according to the sheriff’s department.
A majority of the property that was stolen from both the dentist’s office and the salon was recovered, but the suspect hid the vaccine vials in bushes, where they were destroyed by the weather, according to the sheriff’s office.
The sheriff’s department will forward the charges to the Pierce County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office.
COVID-19 vaccines, currently available at retail pharmacies, standup clinics, medical offices and hospitals, as well as the Tacoma Dome, among other sites, are always offered at no cost as part of the current nationwide vaccination effort.
“So we ask the question, ‘What would a thief want with 100 COVID-19 vaccines that you can get for free?’ The answer is, ‘We’re not sure,’” the sheriff’s department wrote.
Locations for legitimate vaccine access can be found at tpchd.org/vaxtothefuture or the county’s FindYourCovidShot.com. Locations of individual vaccine sites also can be found on the state’s vaccine finder: vaccinelocator.doh.wa.gov.
This story was originally published May 5, 2021 at 12:39 PM.