Florida Dad Misses Daughter's Birth After He's Wrongfully Arrested and Put Behind Bars for 13 Days By Latoya Gayle

A father from Jacksonville, Fla. missed the birth of his daughter after being arrested and extradited to a location over 200 miles away in a case of mistaken identity.

On Sept. 12, Samuel Vasquez was mistakenly arrested in Duval County and charged with assault, burglary, criminal mischief, grand theft and cruelty to animals, according to Fox 35 Orlando and the New York Post.

The 29-year-old father, who was anticipating the birth of a baby girl, spent four days at the Duval County Jail before being extradited to Polk County. 

He maintained his innocence but spent 13 days behind bars, ultimately missing the birth of his second child. According to Fox 35, deputies mistook Vasquez for their suspect due to a one-letter difference in the spelling of their last names. 

Vasquez seemingly shared no visual similarities to Samuel Vazquez, a 41-year-old accused of assaulting his ex-girlfriend and her dog outside a Publix in Davenport, the outlet reported.

Rajan Joshi, Senior Partner at Joshi Law Firm, told Fox 35 that he hadn’t seen a “more sloppy investigation” in 25 years, after successfully proving that their client, Vasquez, was wrongfully arrested.

It was noted that he and the suspect had differing ages, birthdates, heights and weights, according to the outlet.

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Vasquez had no prior criminal history, while Vazquez had been on probation at the time of the alleged assault, per Fox 35.

“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, Associate at Joshi Law Firm, according to the outlet.

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The attorneys said they showed Vazquez’s ex a mugshot of their client following his arrest. She allegedly told them, “I’ve never seen that man before,” per Fox 35.

It wasn’t until the legal representatives also contacted the Polk County Sheriff’s Office and the District Attorney’s Office that Vasquez was released from custody.

All charges against Samuel Vasquez were officially dropped, while Vazquez was detained in Charlotte County and is awaiting extradition to Polk County, the NYP reported.

Polk County Sheriff’s Office and District Attorney’s Office did not immediately respond to PEOPLE’s request for comment on Monday, Sept. 29. The Jacksonville Sheriff’s Department refused to comment on the situation when contacted.