Krispy Kreme Glaze Mistaken For Meth: Man Arrested Sues Orlando

ORLANDO, FL — The Orlando man arrested on drug possession charges in 2015 when a police officer mistook a flake of Krispy Kreme doughnut glaze for methamphetamine vowed following his incarceration to sue. The 65-year-old has kept good on that promise and now has a case moving through the Orange County Court system.

Daniel Rushing is asking an Orange County judge to grant him damages in excess of $15,000 for the 10 hours he spent in lockup and the troubles his drug-related arrest caused. The suit names the City of Orlando and Safariland, the maker of the drug testing kit that identified the sugary glaze flake as meth, as defendants.

Rushing was arrested on Dec. 11, 2015, after Cpl. Shelby Riggs-Hopkins pulled him over for allegedly failing to stop when he left a 7-Eleven store. Rushing was also accused of doing 42 mph on a road with a 30-mph limit in place, according to an arrest report.

The real trouble for Rushing began when Riggs-Hopkins asked for his license. It seems the officer noticed he had a concealed weapons permit. The discovery that he was armed, made the officer ask Rushing to get out of his car.

That’s when Rushing’s day really got bad. The officer happened to note a “rock like substance” on the floor near his feet as he exited the vehicle.

“I recognized, through my eleven years of training and experience as a law enforcement officer, the substance to be some sort of narcotic,” the police report said.

The substance was field tested twice. Both times it tested positive for amphetamines, the report noted.

Rushing, however, insisted it was not meth – just a harmless, sugary flake of glaze.

“Rushing stated that he has never done any drugs in his life,” the officer noted in the report. “Rushing stated that the substance is sugar from a Krispie Kreme Donut that he ate.”

The officer didn’t buy the story. Rushing was charged with possession of methamphetamine while being in possession of a firearm.

Vindication for Rushing came later when the Florida Department of Law Enforcement’s lab confirmed the “rock like” substance found on Rushing’s floorboard was not a controlled substance. The state’s lab didn’t check further to actually identify the substance.

Drug charges against Rushing, not surprisingly, were dropped by the Orange County State Attorney’s Office.

Rushing’s suit alleges that Riggs-Hopkins was not properly trained to use a drug-testing kit. He also claims the officer should have been able to distinguish meth from doughnut glaze. He’s now seeking payment for emotional harm, including “loss of reputation, humiliation, strip search, embarrassment, mental anguish, denial of his medications, and loss of his handgun.”

Rushing has requested a jury trial in the case, according to court documents. As of Thursday, April 20, Rushing’s suit was still active in the Orange County Court system, but no hearing date had been set.

As is the case with such suits, the city and drug-testing kit maker have not issued comments.

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