Stephanie Heath
This man did everything right, and still got arrested. September 12 is a date that Samuel Vasquez is likely never to forget. It was on that day that he suffered a wrongful arrest due to a case of mistaken identity. To add insult to injury, not only did the man get arrested, but he also missed his daughter’s birth because of it.
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The Details: Fox 35 Orlando shared that Samuel Vasquez was “mistakenly arrested in Duval County and charged with assault, burglary, criminal mischief, grand theft, and cruelty to animals.” The only problem was that he was innocent.
- Samuel Vasquez shared nothing in common with the actual perpetrator, except for their name, and even then, there was one difference. A single letter distinguished the two names from each other. Samuel Vasquez is innocent, whereas Samuel Vazquez is not.
- Additionally, the men had different birth dates, heights, and weights.
- Not to mention that when the mugshots were placed side by side, there were several key facial differences as well.
How Mistaken Identity Leads to A Wrongful Arrest
Samuel Vazquez, 41, was accused of assaulting his ex-girlfriend and her dog. The issue was reported to have taken place in Davenport. Samuel Vasquez, 29, was eagerly anticipating the arrival of his baby girl. Unfortunately, he missed her birth due to this wrongful conviction.
People Magazine shared the following details of his arrest.
- Vasquez spent four days at the Duval County Jail.
- From there, he was extradited to Pok County.
- Vasquez spent 13 days behind bars.
A Sloppy Investigation: In addition to the key differences between the men noted earlier, it is also worth mentioning that Vasquez had no prior criminal history. In comparison, Vazquez “had been on probation for alleged assault,” according to Fox 35.
In an interview with Fox 35, Vasquez’s attorneys spoke on the matter.
- “In 25 years, I’ve never seen a more sloppy investigation than this,” Rajan Joshi, Senior Partner at Joshi Law Firm, commented.
- Additionally, Jonathan Vega, an Associate at Joshi Law Firm, decided to bring the case to the one person who could right this horrendous wrong, the woman who filed the report. Upon showing her his client’s picture, she admitted, “I’ve never seen that man before.”
- Vega then said, “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.”
Vasquez has since been released and reunited with his family; all charges against him have been dropped. The actual perpetrator, Samuel Vazquez, is now behind bars.
