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Cops Arrest Florida Man After Mistaking Doughnut Glaze for Crystal Meth

Either way: They’re addictive. Photo: Joe Raedle/Getty Images

Call it driving while doughnutting. Orlando resident Daniel Rushing was pulled over and subsequently arrested by two cops after they spotted an incredibly suspicious substance in his car: Possibly fresh off of binge-watching Breaking Bad for the zillionth time, the officers believed the flakes to actually be crystal meth, and say they did a couple roadside tests that came back positive for the drug. In the end, however, the substance was glaze from a Krispy Kreme doughnut. (Though the positive drug ID, if true, might help finally explain the irresistible allure of the company’s doughnuts.)

To make matters worse, the Florida man had just dropped a neighbor off for chemotherapy treatment, which he says he did every Friday, before going to a 7-Eleven to give an elderly friend a ride home. Arresting officer, eight-year veteran Corporal Shelby Riggs-Hopkins, had staked out the convenience store because of complaints about drug-related activity. After pulling Rushing over for failing to come to a full stop and driving well over the speed limit, Riggs-Hopkins asked him to step out of the car and searched the vehicle. That’s when, according to the arrest report, she noticed the suspicious “rock like substance,” a.k.a. flakes of doughnut glaze, which she was able to identify as an illegal drug thanks to her “eleven years of training and experience.” To no avail, Rushing, who goes to Krispy Kreme weekly, tried to explain that he’s a normal guy who just really likes doughnuts.

Following his arrest, Rushing was taken to the county jail and strip-searched — but another test several weeks later cleared him of the crime. He was held for ten hours before being released on $2,500 bond and charged with possession of methamphetamine with a firearm, an additional charge stemming from his concealed-weapons permit. Understandably not thrilled by what happened, Rushing has hired an attorney and is seeking damages from the city. The next time you’re eating glazed doughnuts in your car and think it’s no big deal, remember this cautionary tale.

Florida Cops Mistake Doughnut Glaze for Crystal Meth