A Florida man who garnered worldwide attention after getting arrested when police thought that he was in possession of meth was awarded a $37,500 cash settlement last week, the Orlando Sentinel reported.
Daniel Rushing was arrested in 2015 following a traffic stop. In the arrest report, police noted “a rock-like substance on the floor board where his feet were" in Rushing's car. The Orlando Police thought that this substance was meth, and arrested Rushing.
It turns out that the substance was doughnut glaze, even though a field test came back positive for meth. It took a second test by the Florida Department of Law Enforcement to prove that it was sugar, and not meth.
But by the time the more thorough test was completed, Rushing spent 10 hours in jail and posted a $2,500 bond. The charge also still appears on his record.
Rushing was originally pulled over for failing to come to a complete stop.
Rushing told the Orlando Sentinel that the arrest has made it challenging for him to move on.
“I haven’t been able to work,” Rushing told the paper. “People go online and see that you’ve been arrested.”
The officer who administered the field test, Cpl. Shelby Riggs-Hopkins, was given a written reprimand.
Rushing told the Orlando Sentinel he still gets a glazed doughnut once a week, but opts not to eat the snack in his car.
