Jessie Thornton, a 61-year-old retiree, was arrested and charged with driving under the influence, despite a breathalyzer result of 0.00, reported ABC 15.

Thornton moved to Surprise, AZ. after retiring from his career as a firefighter and has adopted a nocturnal schedule because his wife works as an ER nurse. He sleeps during the day and runs his errands at night. Last week, he was driving home from the gym when he was pulled over.

"I've been stopped 10 times in Surprise and given four tickets, it's amazing," Thornton said.

The officer told Thornton he pulled him over for crossing the white line and that he could tell he was driving under the influence just by looking in his eyes.

"I take my glasses off and he says, 'You've got bloodshot eyes.' I said, 'I've been swimming at L.A. Fitness,' and he says, 'I think you're DUI,'" Thornton said. "He (the officer) goes, 'Well we're going to do a sobriety test.' I said, 'OK, but I got bad knees and a bad hip with surgery in two days.'"

Medical documents confirmed Thornton's scheduled hip surgery. The police report said Thornton did not have a knee or hip problem.

He was then given a sobriety test and was cuffed and told to sit on the curb.

"I couldn't even sit on the ground like that and they knew it and I was like laying on the ground, then they put me in the back of an SUV and when I asked the officer to move her seat up 'cause my hip hurt she told me to stop whining," Thornton said.

Upon arriving at the Surprise Police Headquarters, Thornton was administered a breathalyzer test, which showed a blood-alcohol level of 0.00. A drug recognition expert (DRE) was asked to test Thornton and the DRE said he said retiree showed "no signs of impairment."

According to Thornton, the DRE said, "I would never have arrested you."

By that time, Thornton's car had already been impounded, the Arizona MVD had been notified of the DUI charge and he was told he had to take a drug and alcohol awareness course.

"I then get this message that my license is being suspended and I have to take some sort of drinking class or something," Thornton said.

According to Marc Victor, Thornton's attorney, he is now suing the City of Surprise and is seeking $500,000.

"This is a case of D-W-B, driving while black," Victor said. "This is not the way American citizens ought to be treated by officers or treated by anybody for that matter."

The Surprise Police Department did not comment on the matter because, as standard policy states, they do not comment on pending legal cases.