LI Man Busted With COVID-19 Vaccination Cards From CVS: PD

MINEOLA, NY — A Long Island man was busted with COVID-19 vaccination cards that were stolen from a CVS pharmacy, Nassau County Police Commissioner Patrick Ryder said Thursday.

Zachary Honig, 21, of Levittown was found with the cards when he was arrested by the department’s Criminal Intelligence Rapid Response Team in Westbury just before 11 p.m. on Tuesday, Ryder said.

The team, which had received intelligence, responded to Dibblee Drive, a known drug location, and found Honig in a 2016 Mazda with “silver-colored brass knuckles,” as well as eight pre-filled vaccination cards containing the batch number, as well as the store number and dates of the first and second doses of the vaccine, but the name portion was blank, according to Ryder.

Honig, a CVS employee who worked at locations in Levittown, North Bellmore, and East Meadow, also had about 54 blank cards. The cards were taken within the last couple of days, he said.

“His intent was to share them with family members and friends so that they could go to venues, and possibly even use them at school when they go back in September,” Ryder told reporters at a news conference at police headquarters.

Honig was charged with eight counts of criminal possession of a forged instrument, a felony.

He was also slapped with misdemeanor charges of petit larceny, criminal possession of a weapon for having brass knuckles, and criminal possession of a controlled substance for having an “illegal” pill.

Honig does not have any prior arrests, and was “just making a dumb mistake at this time,” Ryder added.

Ryder said investigators do not believe Honig had sold any of the cards or that any other of the pre-filled cards are out on the street, but the investigation is ongoing.

“We have more to discuss with his lawyer,” he added.

Honig was arraigned Wednesday, and was released, according to Ryder. He is being represented by an attorney from the Legal Aid Society.

Ryder said the department has spoken with the Inspector General’s Office, which will continue the investigation, as well as CVS officials, whom they have asked to secure other cards in their possession. CVS officials told investigators that they are tightening up their security, Ryder said.

At the particular store where the cards were removed, they were pre-filled, but were meaningless without the holder’s information, according to Ryder. All that was needed to complete the card was the name and date of birth of the cardholder, which would allow access to venues requiring proof of vaccination, he said.

Ryder said the department is continuing to work with its federal and state partners to circumvent any more bootleg cards.

“We can’t have scams,” he said. “The idea of getting us all back to normal is that when you walk into a place and they are requiring that card, you want to make sure that card is factual and truthful.”

Noting that since the more public venues will be opening up on May 15 requiring a vaccination card for entry, County Executive Laura Curran said “whenever there is an opportunity, there is a scam, and this happened right here in Nassau.”

Her office is drafting legislation to send “a clear message that it is not acceptable.”

“The reason that we can get back to normal is because people are getting vaccinated, if you are faking it, you can set this whole thing back,” she said. “That is the last thing any of us want.”