Man Gets $37,500 After Police Mistake Donut Glaze In His Car For Meth

A Florida man has won $37,500 from the city of Orlando after police mistook donut glaze they found in his car for methamphetamine.

In December 2015, 64-year-old man Daniel Rushing was driving a fellow parishoner from his church home when he got pulled over for speeding and failing to come to a complete stop. When officers searched his car, they found a white crystal substance in his car that tested positive for meth. Rushing, who claims to have never even smoked a cigarette, was arrested for possession of meth while armed with a weapon (he had a concealed-carry weapon and his permit on him).

After being locked up for 10 hours, Rushing was released on bail, and eventually cleared of all charges after further testing concluded that the glaze was, in fact, not a drug. Rushing, who has worked alongside police as a parks department employee, later sued the City of Orlando over the faulty drug testing. He told NPR that he felt it was the “right thing to do” after data from Florida’s state law enforcement lab found that local law enforcement was registering false positives on their drug testing kits 20% of the time.

Now that the donut glaze controversy is behind him. Rushing is working on getting his record expunged of the wrongful charges before running for statehouse to help correct the drug testing kit issue.

He also plans to not eat donuts in his car anytime soon.