SEMINOLE COUNTY, Fla. — Oviedo police told Channel 9's Jeff Levkulich it will take a closer look at their drug test kits after drywall tested positive for cocaine.
Karlos Cashe was pulled over in March for driving without headlights.
A K-9 officer made a hit on possible drugs on the passenger side of Cashe’s vehicle, police said.
Oviedo police used a test kit and said a powdery substance tested positive for cocaine; they also found marijuana in the car, police said.
Cashe was on probation for marijuana and cocaine charges.
However, further testing by the Florida Department of Law Enforcement confirmed the powdery substance was really drywall.
Cashe sat in jail for 90 days before the test results came back.
“I sat there 90 days knowing I was innocent,” Cashe told Eyewitness News.
“We had probable cause. Our presumptive tests on the cocaine was positive and that’s what we go off of. That’s why with every presumptive that we do, we send it off to FDLE,” said Lt. Heather Capetillo with the Oviedo Police Department.
Police use a NarcoPouch, made by Safariland, to test for the narcotics.
Safariland is the same company used by Orlando police when they arrested a man after doughnut glaze tested positive for meth.
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Eyewitness News asked Oviedo police if there was an issue with the test kits.
“We will probably review test kits. (We will) contact FDLE and see if there are other test kits or other brands we can use,” Capetillo said.
Watch video of the arrest below:
#New:Oviedo PD says test is 99% accurate. Looking at whether they need to go with a different company for field drug test kits. #WFTV pic.twitter.com/J2q6SnXPAy
— Jeff Levkulich (@jlevkulichWFTV) June 27, 2017
New:Second field drug test kit made by same company gives false positive in the last year. First it was donut glaze & now it's drywall.#WFTV pic.twitter.com/bOqFmFshis
— Jeff Levkulich (@jlevkulichWFTV) June 27, 2017
#New:Oviedo police release body cam of man's March arrest in which drywall powder tested positive for cocaine.#WFTVAT5 pic.twitter.com/WNyHgBz80x
— Jeff Levkulich (@jlevkulichWFTV) June 27, 2017
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