They wanted a family vacation in paradise. Fake vaccine cards killed the trip, cops say.
A Miami Beach couple found out the hard way that faking vaccination cards has serious consequences.
Enzo Dalmazzo, 43, and Daniela Dalmazzo, 31, were arrested on Aug. 11, shortly after they arrived in Honolulu for vacation, according to the Honolulu Civil Beat.
A TSA agent at Daniel K. Inouye International Airport reportedly became suspicious of the couple’s cards for their kids who were under 12, born in 2016 and 2017 and not eligible for the COVID shot, Special Agent Joe Logan, who works at the Hawaii Attorney General’s Office, told NBC 6.
“The screener at the airport when they came through noticed an anomaly about the age of the children and the vaccine and that’s how we got involved,” he said.
Enzo has been charged with one count of presenting false documents and Daniela has been charged with three counts, two of which relate to each child. They were released on an $8,000 bail, according to a Facebook post from the Office of Enterprise Technology Services, State of Hawaii.
Public records show Enzo Dalmazzo was cited for $2,000 while Daniela Dalmazzo got a $6,000 citation for submitting fake vaccination cards for herself and two children under the age of 12. The couple now face an additional $5,000 fine, one year in prison, or both, for breaching the state’s emergency pandemic proclamation, according to court records filed with the Hawaii Attorney General’s office.
Had the Dalmazzos tested their kids for COVID three days before, they could have enjoyed their trip. The state’s new Safe Travels program allows American travelers to bypass the 10-day quarantine if they prove that they’re fully vaccinated or can show a negative COVID test 72 hours before arrival.
Their arrest is the second case of tourists using fake vaccine cards to enter Hawaii without being vaccinated in the last week. A California father and son Norbert Chung, 57, and Trevor Chung, 19, were arrested at the same Honolulu airport Aug. 8.
In a statement to media after the Chungs’ arrests, Hawaii Attorney General’s Office’s Logan warned others not to follow suit.
“To come to Hawaii and spend thousands of dollars on a trip and hotel and airfare and the money you’re going to spend to enjoy paradise, you’re going to risk that and spend even more money, because you put yourself, your family and others in jeopardy by trying to falsify documents to come and enjoy paradise.”
This story was originally published August 20, 2021 at 1:37 PM.
