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Man accuses Jacksonville Sheriff's officers of misconduct during I-10 traffic stop

Jakarj Sewell said an officer broke his window and tased him. The officer pulled Sewell over for an expired tag and says he found fentanyl in his vehicle.

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — A Jacksonville man said Jacksonville Sheriff's officers went too far during a traffic stop on Interstate 10 in January.

Jakarj Sewell said an officer broke his window, then beat and tased him. Sewell recorded the traffic stop, but the majority of it is just audio. 

According to Sewell's arrest report, he was pulled over for driving with an expired tag. When the officer approached his vehicle, he smelled marijuana coming out of it, according to the report. The officer ran the identification of Sewell and his passenger, Xavier Miller, who had an active warrant from Alabama for marijuana.

According to the report, the officer asked Sewell to get out of his vehicle, as he refused and closed his driver's window. The officer used a window punch tool to remove the glass from the driver's door and "extracted" Sewell out of the car, the report states. 

When the officer tried to handcuff Sewell, he resisted, the report states. The officer then used a "takedown technique" on Sewell where the two continued to fight on the ground, according to the report. The report says the officer eventually stopped fighting with Sewell due to "the incredible dangers of fighting a suspect on the side of a dark interstate."

The officer adds that after many "loud commands," Sewell complied and was handcuffed, according to the report. Sewell said the officer's actions were out of line and he feared for his life. 

“I was complying because I cut the vehicle [engine] off, I was complying by getting ready to get out of the car until that situation escalated and I had to ask questions and I feel like when I was asking questions, the officer was getting unstable with me," Sewell told First Coast News.

First Coast News Crime and Safety Expert Ken Jefferson says body camera footage will tell the whole story.

“I would like to wait and see what the body camera footage has to say about this whole thing," Jefferson said. "There was a similar case where allegations were made against JSO and they were totally refuted because the body cam is going."

RELATED: Woman gives tearful account saying JSO's treatment of her after car wreck was 'dehumanizing'

RELATED: Sheriff T.K. Waters disputes woman's complaints from December crash with body camera footage

In the arrest report, the officer states he found a bag of white powder that tested positive for fentanyl. Sewell denied having fentanyl in the vehicle. He went on to add that he didn't want anything more than to bring awareness to his side of the story.

JSO said it could not comment on the incident as it is currently under administrative review. First Coast News has requested the body camera footage of this incident from JSO.

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