PINELLAS COUNTY, Fla. — A Pinellas County man is suing the Pinellas County Sheriff’s Office after he and his daughter were mistakenly pulled over by deputies.

The lawsuit alleges excessive force and negligence by deputies as they pulled Jason Frederico and his daughter over 10 months ago, thinking the car was stolen.

Frederico said he thought police were trying to pass him, but that quickly changed when deputies pulled out their guns. 

“Soon as I rolled down the window, it was like 0-60 real quick,” he said.  

Unsure of what was happening, Frederico said he did everything he could to comply with deputies.

Put in handcuffs and then in the back of a police car, his attention turned to his epileptic daughter who was still in the car.

He said he pleaded with deputies but that no one would listen to him. 

“I’m yelling at the guy, why is their guns drawn,” Frederico asked. “What is going on? They slammed the door on me. They didn’t want to hear anything.” 

According to Frederico’s attorney and audio from the body camera video provided by the sheriff’s office, the license plate was put into the reader incorrectly, leading to the car coming back as stolen.

Frederico said officers on-scene later explained what happened, but he said the explanation is not good enough for both he and his daughter to be put at such risk. 

“What if she made a false move?” he asked. “What if she went into an epileptic … something. His response (deputy) was, 'Thank God it didn’t come to that,' because I don’t know what they would have done. The aggression of these officers was unbelievable.” 

Frederico said memories of that night still affect him and his daughter.

Spectrum Bay News 9 reached out to the Pinellas County Sheriff’s Office about the incident. The office says it has no comment due to pending litigation.

Spectrum Bay News 9 then sent additional questions about policy and received no answer.