This story has been updated.
Last December, two Orlando police officers arrested a man after they mistook pieces of Krispy Kreme doughnut glaze for crystal methamphetamine. Now, the man they arrested is suing everyone involved for negligence.
Daniel Rushing, 64, filed the lawsuit last week, according to the Orlando Sentinel. Rushing is suing both the city of Orlando and Safariland—the company that produces the drug kits his arresting officers used to test the substance at the scene. Rushing is seeking damages in excess of $15,000, the Sentinel reports.
On Dec. 11, Rushing was pulled over because he was speeding and failed to come to a full stop, according to a previous report. That’s when officer Shelby Riggs-Hopkins’ spotted a “rock-like substance” next to Rushing’s feet, and asked to search his car. Although Rushing insisted that the substance was dried up sugar from the glazed doughnuts, Riggs-Hopkins ran two on-site tests that read positive for crystal meth.
Rushing was then arrested for drug possession and spent 10 hours in jail before being released on $2,500 bail.
While Riggs-Hopkins used Safariland’s roadside drug test before arresting Rushing, she did not wait for the Florida Department of Law Enforcement (FDLE) to test the substance in the crime lab. When the FDLE did, the results revealed the substance was indeed glaze from the doughnuts and Rushing was then cleared of any wrongdoing.
Rushing claimed in his lawsuit that Riggs-Hopkins wasn’t properly trained to use the drug-testing kits, the Sentinel reports, and said she should have known the glaze wasn’t meth. Rushing also said the FDLE should have been given the chance to test the substance before he was arrested, according to the Sentinel.
Rushing said the incident has caused him emotional harm, including embarrassment and humiliation, as well as having a permanent mug shot on the Internet.
The city of Orlando declined to comment on the pending litigation. Coins2Day has reached out to Safariland for comment and will update the story if we receive response.
