ORLANDO, Fla. — Icing from a Krispy Kreme doughnut landed Dan Rushing in jail after Orlando police mistook it for methamphetamine, and as a result, Rushing is suing the city.
“They showed me four little pieces, smaller than your fingernail, of icing from a Krispy Kreme doughnut I'd eaten previously,” Rushing said.
The lawsuit Rushing filed on Friday is not only against the city of Orlando, it’s against Safariland, the company behind the test.
The arrest happened in July. Orlando police pulled Rushing over for speeding and searched his car.
When officers found dried icing in his car, they thought it was meth and arrested him.
“I get one glazed every other Wednesday,” said Rushing.
Orlando police said the icing tested positive twice for meth.
“I said 'That's icing from a Krispy Kreme glazed doughnut,' and they went, ‘No. That's drugs,’” said Rushing.
Rushing said that he insisted the substance was sugar.
“They took me to jail. I was there about 11 hours. (They) strip-searched me,” said Rushing.
Rushing said the amount of icing could barely fit on the nail of a pinky finger. He was surprised officers saw it, especially since it was in pieces scattered on the floor of his car.
The Florida Department of Law Enforcement later tested the icing and found that it contained “no controlled substances.”
Prosecutors didn't pursue the drug charge.
The lawsuit claims the officer was not properly trained to use the test, and the product was defective or unreliable.
“It's an incredible feeling to get arrested when you haven't done anything wrong,” Rushing said.
WFTV legal analyst Bill Sheaffer said that Rushing might have an uphill battle in court because the officers still had cause to arrest him, even if the test was later proven wrong.
But Rushing hopes to force more scrutiny over the field tests.
He said he will still eat the doughnuts, but “just don't eat them in the car anymore.”
The city declined to comment on the lawsuit.
Safariland has not replied to WFTV's request for comment.
Cox Media Group
