Dealer Tried Stealing From Me And Not Sure Whether I Should Take This To Court

I need help I went to a buy here pay here dealership in Tampa and they took my down payment I hadn’t signed anything yet at all. When I went to go insure the car it said it had damage and or title problems which the dealer did NOT disclose to me. They tried telling me they do not know about that then later said the car had one minor accident after telling me it had zero accidents. I no longer felt comfortable getting the car and asked for my downpayment back.

The employee tried telling me I couldn’t get my money back and I told her I absolutely can because I did NOT sign anything. Then, she told me I couldn’t receive my money back because the owner was not there. I called the cops on them they told the cops I’d get my money back on Monday. I later learned that the owner WAS in fact there and they lied to me AND the cops. He was the girls dad and he just hid in the back to avoid contact with the cops.

After a WEEK of haggling with them and them ignoring me the owner never ONCE reaching out to me to find a solution. I went on Saturday to which they tried to make me sign a paper that only refunded me 3,720 dollars no where on the paper did it mention the 500 I paid in debit would go back to my card. They took 280 dollars out of the 4.5k I put down saying it was “transactional fees” I paid the downpayment through Zelle. Zelle does not charge such fees. Then they said the IRS charges them tha fee for every transaction which is not true either. So I callled the cops again and the owner threw a check at me for 280 dollars and slammed the pen on the desk and my name is written wrong on the check. He told everyone to get up and leave and they all left before cops got there. Do I take this to small claims or escalate it even more? If so how do I file who should I call I need advice please location: Florida