Donuts can be addictive–but they’re not drugs. That seems like common sense, but unfortunately an Orlando man named Daniel Rushing was arrested late last year because local police mistook dried Krispy Kreme donut icing in his car for meth. Now, Rushing is suing the city for $15,000 in damages due to that arrest, as well as the roadside drug test manufacturer that the police officer used.

Rushing was pulled over by Cpl. Shelby Riggs-Hopkins last December. He was pulled over for a legitimate reason–he failed to come to a complete stop after leaving a parking lot. He allowed the officer to search his car, and she found some donut frosting flakes. She described it in her report as “a rock like substance on the floor,” but Rushing insists he tried to tell her that it was just leftovers from his morning snack.

Rushing said:

Every other Wednesday, I get a glazed doughnut from Krispy Kreme. (Police) found four little pieces of icing on the floorboard, which I’m kind of embarrassed about because I should have, you know, vacuumed the car better.

So, Riggs-Hopkins used a roadside test to test the substance, and alleges that it tested positive for meth. But Riggs-Hopkins arrested Rushing on a drug possession charge and he spent almost 10 hours in jail before he was able to post bail. And a few weeks later, when the police tested the supposed meth in a lab, it was shown that there were no illicit substances in the frosting pieces.

In addition to suing the city of Orlando–he alleges that Riggs-Hopkins should have recognized that the substance wasn’t meth, and was improperly trained to use the roadside test–Rushing is suing Safariland, the company that produced the drug tests. According to local news, “Rushing hopes to force more scrutiny over the field tests.”

Rushing’s concerns are fair, but that hasn’t stopped the case from garnering some national attention–after all, donuts may be addictive, but they’re certainly not illegal.

Anneliese Mahoney

Anneliese Mahoney is Managing Editor at Law Street and a Connecticut transplant to Washington D.C. She has a Bachelor’s degree in International Affairs from the George Washington University, and a passion for law, politics, and social issues. Contact Anneliese at amahoney@LawStreetMedia.com.

The post Florida Man Sues After Police Mistake Donut Icing for Meth appeared first on Law Street.

Welcome to RantCrush Top 5, where we take you through today’s top five controversial stories in the world of law and policy. Who’s ranting and raving right now? Check it out below:

Let The Sexist Commentary Begin!

Last night at the DNC, Hillary Clinton officially accepted the Democratic Party’s nomination for president. Many viewers, including myself, were in awe of such a historic moment. I’m sure the opposition seized in disbelief. We all have a lot to say about what went on last night, from Katy Perry’s performance to Hillary Clinton’s killer white pantsuit (loved it!). But for some reason, the hot topic this morning is not what Hillary said during her acceptance speech, but how she sounded.

James Naughtie, a BBC commentator on the “Today Programme,” responded to a question about whether Clinton had a “woman problem” saying:

 She does. There’s something about her which puts some people off. It’s partly the history. It’s partly the slightly shrill tone which she tends to adopt sometimes in speeches.

And during her speech on Thursday night, many on Twitter couldn’t resist telling Clinton to smile and commenting about her voice. I guess we’ve got a lot of sexist coverage to look forward to.

via GIPHY

Rant Crush

RantCrush collects the top trending topics in the law and policy world each day just for you.

The post RantCrush Top 5: July 29, 2016 appeared first on Law Street.

Happy Friday everyone–hope your short week flew by! If you need something to pass the time at the end of this work week, check out the weird arrests of the week below.

A Different Kind of Prize

Image courtesy of Thomas Hawk via Flickr

Katie Rees, who was formerly Miss Nevada and who had a chance to win Miss USA in 2007, was arrested for possession of meth. But the interesting part is that this is the second time that she has been arrested for meth this year, she was nabbed selling it in July. That’s not very pageant-worthy!

Anneliese Mahoney

Anneliese Mahoney is Managing Editor at Law Street and a Connecticut transplant to Washington D.C. She has a Bachelor’s degree in International Affairs from the George Washington University, and a passion for law, politics, and social issues. Contact Anneliese at amahoney@LawStreetMedia.com.

The post Weird Arrests of the Week appeared first on Law Street.

Fast food restaurants are many people’s go-to place for a quick and inexpensive meal. Despite widespread concerns about the healthiness of the food they serve, these franchises still receive an enormous amount of customers daily. But recent news has just exposed a few fast food restaurants and have shown us that some may be giving out more than just food–particularly a couple recent cases of drugs being produced or found in different establishments.

Early Tuesday morning around 4:42 AM, Cedar Rapid’s police received a call about suspicious activity going on outside a Taco Bell. When the officers arrived they found two men standing outside, one of whom was a Taco Bell employee. Police then called the restaurant’s manager to the scene and went inside with him to check it out. To their surprise, they found materials identified as equipment for the production of methamphetamine in the utility area.

@tacobell do you have meth infused queso? Asking for a friend….. https://t.co/lO0gVEiI6o

— Patrick O’Leary (@ughsoawkward) August 5, 2015

The parking lot was taped off Tuesday morning while officers examined the materials, and it is still unclear if meth was actually cooked inside the restaurant. The two men were identified as 31-year-old Christopher Adam Matous and 56-year-old Kent Jerome Duby. Matous faces charges of conspiracy to manufacture methamphetamine, possession of a controlled substance, and possession of sodium hydroxide and petroleum distillates. Two of the charges are felonies. Duby faces a felony charge of conspiracy to manufacture methamphetamine. Taco Bell stated,

We understand that two people, one an employee, entered our franchisee’s restaurant illegally, allegedly possessing suspicious items. Both we and our franchisee find this completely unacceptable. Our franchisee has been cooperating with Cedar Rapids Police to investigate this isolated incident. Although the suspicious items found in the restaurant were not used in the kitchen, the employee has been terminated and our franchisee is considering pressing criminal charges. The restaurant will reopen after it has been sanitized and inspected by the Health Department.

The Taco Bell will have to remove any traces of hazardous chemicals from the building and then the health department must perform an inspection before the restaurant is allowed to re-open. Police don’t think that customers or employees at this Taco Bell were ever in danger, but are still investigating the situation. This is not the first time in recent history that a fast food restaurant has had an incident involving drugs. Just last week on July 29, a lawsuit was filed against an In-N-Out Burger in Los Angeles, California when a customer, Fred Maldonado, became sick after drinking a milkshake that allegedly contained two methamphetamine capsules. Maldonado visited In-N-Out during March of 2014 and ordered a burger and milkshake. It wasn’t until the next morning that he noticed two capsules wrapped in a napkin at the bottom of his cup. He then returned to the restaurant and complained to the manager who only apologized and offered him a free burger.

A California Man Is Suing In-n-Out Burger After Allegedly Finding Meth In Drink -NBC pic.twitter.com/lG0FuaNFDD

— Breaking911 (@Breaking911) August 2, 2015

The suit Maldonado filed states, “Plaintiff did not initially know what the two capsules were, but later testing revealed that they were methamphetamine and that it appeared that they may have been illicitly manufactured.” Maldonado also claims that he suffered severe nausea and mental distress after drinking the milkshake. Maldonado filed the lawsuit in the Los Angeles Superior Court, alleging negligence and strict liability. In-N-Out has denied the charges and stated:

At In-N-Out Burger, we have always served the freshest, highest quality burgers, fries, and drinks and customer safety is one of our highest priorities.

In-N-Out Burger executive vice president Arnie Wensinger told City News Service.

We will vigorously defend these baseless claims. Due to the fact that this matter involves ongoing litigation, we will unfortunately not be able to comment any further.

To have drugs around or being manufactured where people eat is completely unacceptable–both the Taco Bell and In-N-Out Burger cases are very concerning. Careless actions like this can can put customers like Maldonado in serious danger. Even though they appear to  be isolated incidents, restaurants need to pay close attention to their employees and what’s happening inside their buildings.

Taelor Bentley

Taelor is a member of the Hampton University Class of 2017 and was a Law Street Media Fellow for the Summer of 2015. Contact Taelor at staff@LawStreetMedia.com.

The post Drugs on the Side? Fast Food Restaurants Under Fire for Possible Drug Violations appeared first on Law Street.