Ron White sends pizza to jail

VERO BEACH, Fla., Sept. 15 (UPI) -- Officials at Florida's Indian River County Jail said comedian Ron White sent staff six pizzas hours after he was processed and released on drug charges.

Sheriff's Lt. Selby Strickland said staff accepted the pies, which White said were a "thank you" for the staff's professionalism, because the Sheriff's Office does not have any rules against accepting food as a gift, TCPalm.com reported Monday.

"Our policy would allow us to accept food as a gift after our duties are completed," Strickland said. "Since our duties were done, there was nothing we could do to help him."

The "Blue Collar Comedy Tour" star was arrested by Vero Beach Police after his jet arrived at the Vero Beach Municipal Airport. Police said they had received an anonymous tip that White would have drugs on him and the comedian admitted to having an amount of marijuana. He was booked on misdemeanor charges of possession of marijuana and drug paraphernalia and released after posting $1,000 bond.

White said he asked his promotion company, Live Nation, to have pizzas sent to jail staff and the police. However, Police spokesman Officer John Morrison said the department did not receive any pizzas and would not have accepted them had they arrived.

"That would be a gratuity" disallowed by department policy, he said.