The popularity of Breaking Bad has apparently invaded the public consciousnes to such a degree that it’s got police seeing drugs when there’s only candy to be found: A New York man has filed a lawsuit claiming cops detained him and a friend for 24 hours because they thought the Jolly Ranchers they had were methamphetamine. Oops.

According to the lawsuit, the red and blue “crystalline rocks of solid material” were simply sweet treats and not a reason for a drug bust.

The New York Daily News says police booked the plaintiff for possession of crystal meth before realizing the mistake. The criminal affidavit reportedly has a statement from the cop who arrested the man and his friend that he had professional training in the identification of methamphetamine.

“I don’t know if these cops have been watching ‘Breaking Bad,’ but my client is not Walter White,” said the man’s lawyer when filing the lawsuit last week.

After the men bought the sweets from a store in Coney Island, the lawsuit says they were stopped a few blocks away by the police and searched.

In the lawsuit, the man claims police told him it was “only a matter of time before they found something,” while he and his friend were detained for a day.

The officer apparently conducted a field test and said that the result was positive for drugs, but after a gas chromatography/mass spectrometry analysis at the NYPD lab, the true nature of the Jolly Ranchers was revealed. It took the district attorney’s office about three months to dismiss the charges, however.

The man is now seeking unspecified monetary damages for the 24 hours he spent in custody and court detention for the misdemeanor drug charge.

NYPD cops confused Jolly Rancher candies for crystal meth: suit [New York Daily News]

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