Being on the wrong side of the law is never a good thing. It usually goes just like The Clash song says: “I fought the law and the law won.” But when you’re suspected of some wrongdoing and you’re innocent of it, it’s even worse.
The prospect of spending serious time locked up behind bars without ever having done something wrong is not usually something people think about. It seems to only happen in the movies, after all. But one man would find out just how real the prospect was.
Good Deeds
In December of 2015, a Florida man named Daniel was out doing some good deeds, giving car rides to a couple of people in need. The 64-year-old had just dropped a friend off at chemotherapy and then drove home an older woman from his church who worked at the nearby 7-Eleven.
Easy Favor
The woman would have otherwise had to walk about two miles to her home, which was a considerable walk for an older woman but would be next to nothing for a car ride. But as Daniel would find out, his good deeds wouldn’t go unpunished.
Pulled Over
Shortly after he pulled away from the convenience store, he heard the “woop woop” of a police siren and flashing lights appeared behind him. He pulled over to the side of the road, regretting his misfortune.
‘Do You Know Why I Pulled You Over?’
After the officer ran his license and registration, she told Daniel that he had been driving 43 miles per hour in a 30 mile per hour zone and he’d also failed to come to a complete stop as he exited the 7-Eleven parking lot.
‘Are You Armed?’
Officer Shelby Riggs-Hopkins also noticed when Daniel handed over his license, he had a concealed-weapons permit. When he confirmed that he had a pistol on him at the time, the officer asked that he step of the car for her safety.
Sure Thing, Officer
When Officer Riggs-Hopkins asked if police could search his car, Daniel had no problems with it, especially if it would help him get out of a ticket. The officer called for backup and now Daniel Rushing was watching as four police officers conducted a thorough inspection of his vehicle.
Are You Kidding?
Daniel Rushing was taken aback when Officer Riggs-Hopkins said to him, “You want to tell me about what we found?” “There’s nothing to find,” he said, with confusion in his voice. She informed him that the officers had found some sort of white crystals on the floorboard of the car. When they used a field testing kit on it, the substance tested positive for methamphetamine.
Addictive Habit
He couldn’t believe what he was hearing. “I’ve never even smoked a cigarette,” Daniel said. When she showed him the substance in question, the circumstances seemed even more absurd. “That’s glaze from a Krispy Kreme doughnut,” he said, “I get one every other Wednesday.”
Crazy Situation
But the officers trusted their test over Daniel’s word and took him down to the precinct and charged him with possession of methamphetamine while armed with a weapon. Where just a short time prior he was helping out a couple of friends in need, he was now sitting in a jail cell, wondering “Lord, what am I doing here?”
Funny In Hindsight
“It was funny,” Daniel said to NPR, “because I called my wife to tell her what happened, and the guy next to me waiting for the phone started to laugh. He said, ‘this is crazy. I think you got a real good lawsuit here.’”
Test Results
Of course, the ten hours he spent locked up before being released on bail were no laughing matter. The Orlando Police Department sent the evidence they’d gotten from Daniel’s car to the Florida Department of Law Enforcement for more thorough testing, which would ultimately decide his fate.
Cleared
Their testing vindicated Daniel, showing that the white crystals weren’t a controlled substance, though they didn’t specifically say that it was doughnut glaze. The Krispy Kreme enthusiast’s biggest crime was apparently not vacuuming his car out often enough.
Serious Problem
Naturally, all charges against him were dropped and he was free to go about his business. And while there was an element of humor to what had happened to him, Daniel’s arrest highlighted a serious problem with the kind of field drug testing kits used by Orlando law enforcement and many other agencies.
Affecting Thousands
A 2016 investigation done by ProPublica and The New York Times found that each year, tens of thousands of people are sent to jail based on the results of the inexpensive field testing kits, often as a result of false positives on substances as innocuous as doughnut crumbs.
False Positives
Some testing kits use a substance that turns blue when exposed to cocaine, which is great except there are over 80 other chemical compounds that also turn the substance blue, including certain acne medications and common household cleaning products.
Terrible Error Rate
Some kinds of testing kits can give faulty results if improperly handled, or simply if it’s too hot or cold outside. According to data from the state law enforcement lab in Florida, 21 percent of the evidence recorded by police as methamphetamine was not meth and half of that 21 percent wasn’t drugs at all.
Someone Should Pay
When Daniel Rushing found out about the problems with the field testing, it compelled him to take the idea of a lawsuit against Orlando more seriously. “I thought it was the right thing to do, for what they did to me,” he said.
Making Changes
The city of Orlando ultimately settled with Danial for $37,500 and conducted an internal investigation into the use of the field kits. They also gave officers additional training on how to properly use the kits.
Not Lab Testing
But they still didn’t change the type of kit they were using, NIK narcotic tests. Safariland Group, the company that makes the NIK tests said that their training materials “clearly state that he tests are presumptive aids that serve only as confirmation of probably cause and are not a substitute for laboratory testing,” in a written statement.
No Ill Will
Daniel didn’t bear any ill will toward the Orlando PD, saying the arresting officer was “very polite and nice.” The problem in his eyes boiled down to the kits. “These kits give a false positive one out of every five times,” he said. “I’m thinking about running for statehouse next year. And if I do, I’d like to get something done about these kits.” Also, he doesn’t eat his Krispy Kremes in the car anymore.
