7:13 AM PT -- Afroman tells TMZ, in part, "My house is my property, my video camera films, everything on my property as they begin, stealing my money, disconnecting plus destroying my video camera system, they became my property!"
He continues, "Criminals caught in the act, of vandalizing and stealing money. My video footage is my property. I used it to identify the criminals who broke into my house, and stole my money. I used it to identify criminals, who broke into my house, stole my money and disconnected my home security system."
Afroman is being dragged to court by the same Ohio sheriff's deputies who searched his home ... because the deputies are pissed the rapper's using footage from the raid to make money.
Several deputies and sergeants are suing Afroman, claiming he's using videos and pictures from the August raid at his Ohio home in music videos, and selling merchandise with their images.
According to the lawsuit, obtained by TMZ, the deputies claim Afroman was not home at the time of the raid, but his wife was in the home and she whipped out a cell phone and recorded the search. The officers also claim Afroman's home was full of security cameras, which also recorded deputies during the raid.
Their main gripe is this ... deputies didn't give Afroman permission to use the footage in music videos, or to slap their faces on merch ... and he's profiting off their images and likenesses.
In the suit, the officers say Afroman's music videos, social media posts and merchandise related to the raid amount to an invasion of privacy and misappropriation of their likenesses ... and they say it's causing them emotional distress, ridicule, humiliation, loss of reputation and embarrassment.
For his part, Afroman says deputies raided his home in search of narcotics but came up empty ... and he claims deputies ended up seizing cash during the search, $400 of which wasn't returned. The Clermont County Sheriff's Office investigated and found that the Adams County sheriffs had miscounted the money seized and the correct amount had been returned.
The deputies are going after Afroman for any profits he's made using their images ... and they want the judge to order him to stop using their mugs for commercial purposes.