Suit: Man detained when police think candy is meth

NEW YORK, Oct. 21 (UPI) -- A New York man's lawsuit alleges he and a friend were detained by police who mistook Jolly Rancher candies for crystal meth.

Kenneth Smith, a lawyer for Love Olatunjiojo, 25, filed a federal lawsuit Oct. 15 alleging false arrest, illegal search and seizure and false imprisonment after his client and a friend were detained for 24 hours in June, the New York Daily News reported Monday.

Smith said Olatunjiojo and his friend purchased a handful of Jolly Rancher hard candies at the It'Sugar candy emporium in June and they were stopped a few blocks away by officer Jermaine Taylor. Taylor, who wrote in the criminal affidavit he had professional training in identifying methamphetamine, wrote he believed the candy to be narcotics and a field test yielded a "positive" result.

However, further tests concluded two days later the objects were candy, not drugs.

"I don't know if these cops have been watching 'Breaking Bad,' but my client is not Walter White," Smith said.

Olatunjiojo, who the lawsuit alleges suffered emotional distress as a result of the incident, is seeking unspecified monetary damages.