An Orlando, Florida, resident who was arrested for drugs last year is considering suing the city after a lab test proved police mistook the remnants of a Krispy Kreme doughnut for crystal methamphetamine.
Daniel Rushing was strip-searched and spent 10 hours behind bars before posting $2,500 bond after he was arrested in December 2015 on one count of possession of methamphetamine with a weapon, the Orlando Sentinel reported Wednesday.
Mr. Rushing, 64, was exiting the parking lot of an Orlando convenience store on the afternoon of Dec. 11 when he was pulled over for failing to make a complete stop and driving over the speed limit, according to arrest documents obtained by the newspaper.
Cpl. Shelby Riggs-Hopkins asked Mr. Rushing to exit the vehicle after learning he was carrying a licensed and concealed firearm, removed the weapon and then questioned him about “a rock like substance on the floor board where his feet were,” the documents read.
“I recognized, through my eleven years of training and experience as a law enforcement officer, the substance to be some sort of narcotic,” she wrote.
Mr. Rushing told the officer he had never done drugs in his life and gave permission for his car to be searched for contraband. Moments later, police recovered three more pieces of the same substance, then placed him under arrest when they tested positive for the presence of amphetamines, according to the report.
“Rushing stated that the substance is sugar from a Krispie Kreme Donut [sic] that he ate,” Cpl. Riggs-Hopkins wrote in an affidavit.
Although further testing failed to confirm for certain that the “rock like” substance was actually a sugary glaze, a crime lab chemist said the sample contained no evidence of any controlled substances as defined by state law and the case was dropped three days later, the paper reported.
“It was incredible,” Mr. Rushing told the newspaper. “It feels scary when you haven’t done anything wrong and get arrested. … It’s just a terrible feeling.”
“I got arrested for no reason at all,” he said.
The Orlando Police Department defended the arrest as lawful when reached by the Sentinel, but Mr. Rushing told the newspaper he’s hired a lawyer and intends to sue the city for damages as soon as next month.
• Andrew Blake can be reached at ablake@washingtontimes.com.
Please read our comment policy before commenting.