St. Paul man accused of stealing coronavirus vaccines
Police in a St. Paul suburb are investigating the theft of coronavirus vaccines after a man recorded and posted videos on social media of him walking away with vials of what he said was “poison” and that he had plans to have the vaccines tested at a lab.
Allina Health told police the man, who has been identified by law enforcement as Thomas Humphrey, took a vial of the Pfizer vaccine from a clinic vaccination site in Oakdale May 4 and left before officers arrived.
The 32-year-old St. Paul man recorded the alleged theft, as well as one the next day at a CVS pharmacy, the location of which is not known, the St. Paul Pioneer Press reported.
The videos were on Humphrey’s Facebook page early Monday, before they were either deleted or made non-public. The videos generated hundreds of comments on Humphrey’s page.
One of the videos shows Humphrey sitting down with a nurse at the Allina clinic, then grabbing the Pfizer vaccine before he stood up and yelled at others not to get the vaccine because it would kill them.
In the CVS pharmacy video, Humphrey took a vial of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine from a box that a worker handed him, then walked out of the store, despite pleas from workers not to leave.
Oakdale Police Chief Bill Sullivan said Humphrey’s actions “boil down to a theft of property.” Humphrey did not immediately respond to a Facebook message seeking comment.
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