A Florida man spent two weeks in jail and missed the birth of his daughter after Jacksonville police arrested him in a case of mistaken identity.
On September 12, Samuel Vasquez, 29, was arrested in Duval County by deputies with the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office on charges of assault, burglary, criminal mischief, grand theft and cruelty to animals.
He spent four days in the Duval County jail before he was extradited 200 miles away to Polk County and spent another 13 days behind bars, while maintaining his innocence the whole time.
During the two weeks he spent jailed, he missed the birth of his second child, a baby girl.
All the while, the similarly-named man police had actually been searching for, Samuel Vazquez, 41 – with a ‘z’ instead of an ‘s’ – was walking free.
The young father’s ordeal only ended when attorneys with Joshi Law Firm stepped in to prove Vasquez’s innocence.
‘An innocent man was arrested; an innocent man went to jail,’ Rajan Joshi, Senior Partner at the firm, told FOX35.
‘In 25 years, I’ve never seen a more sloppy investigation than this – ever.’
It emerged that the actual suspect cops were searching for was for allegedly assaulting his ex-girlfriend and her dog outside a Publix in Davenport, according to an incident report from the Polk County Sheriff’s Office.
Samuel Vasquez (right) was arrested in a case of mistaken identity for crimes committed by a man with a similar name, Samuel Vazquez (left)
During the two weeks he was wrongfully jailed, Vasquez missed the birth of his second child
The alleged crime was recorded by security cameras, and police had access to the footage, but they still arrested the wrong man despite the fact that the similarities between the two Samuels ended at their names.
The ages of the two men, as well as their birthdates, heights and weights were all different.
‘Law enforcement, all they had to do was look – see the face of the real perpetrator and compare it to the person they were pointing the finger at, and they would know that they had the wrong person,’ Said Jonathan Vega, an associate at Joshi Law Firm.
Vasquez had no prior criminal history at the time of his arrest, but Vazquez had been out on parole when he allegedly assaulted his ex-girlfriend.
Other than their similar names, the two men shared few other similarities and had different ages, birthdates, heights and weights
The initial report from the Polk County Sheriff’s Office had the correct spelling of the actual suspect’s name, all the correct identifying details and the correct home address, yet police still did not realize they had arrested the wrong man.
Vega proved Vasquez’s innocence by taking a basic step that police neglected.
He showed the woman who had been assaulted a picture of the Samuel that police arrested.
‘I show[ed] her a photo – the mugshot of my client – and she tells me, I’ve never seen that man before,’ Vega said.
Joshi Law Firm then reached out to the Polk County Sheriff’s Office and the District Attorney’s office with its findings.
The charges against Vasquez were quickly dropped and he was released from custody.
The correct Vazquez was booked in Charlotte County soon after, and he is awaiting extradition to Polk County according to jail records.
