Glazed and confused: Cops called to shut down Krispy Kreme giveaway

I was so close, I could taste it.

After waiting in line for 90 minutes, I finally pulled up to the Krispy Kreme, ready for my free donuts. It was then, my car the next in line, that the police came and closed the sale, directing everyone to go home. 

On May 19, Krispy Kreme ran a promotional sale offering a dozen free specialty donuts to high school and college seniors in the graduating class of 2020.

Huge lines formed outside of Krispy Kreme’s across the country with graduates eagerly waiting for their donuts, a consolation prize for how the coronavirus pandemic forced their year to end. 

The Krispy Kreme at Central Park in Fredericksburg was no different. 

Two large lines of cars formed outside of the Krispy Kreme at 1891 Carl D. Silver Parkway. One line clogged the parking lot of the nearby strip mall, and the other was spilling out into Carl D. Silver Parkway. 

At 1:41 p.m. an anonymous tip came in informing the city police department of heavy congestion from about 30 to 40 cars waiting in line. 

The patrol officer who responded to this tip requested a second backup officer due to the sheer volume of cars, Fredericksburg City Police Department public information officer Sarah Kirkpatrick told Potomac Local News. 

Shortly after the police arrived, about 2 p.m., they started informing the graduates waiting in their car that the free doughnut promotion was over. 

“The manager asked the officers to assist with traffic control and also inform patrons the campaign promotion was over,” said Kirkpatrick. 

After this, the police department received another call at 3:21 p.m. from Krispy Kreme management requesting assistance to help clear the overflowing parking lot for a second time. 

The Central Park location is one of three Krispy Kreme stores in Northern Virginia, to include locations in Manassas and just outside Alexandria.

In Manassas, there was similar heavy congestion from donut-starved seniors, but the promotion sale was never canceled. 

“The Krispy Kreme in the City of Manassas is near a very busy intersection, so we did set up a traffic control plan, but had no issues once it was in place. We did not shut down their operations” said Sarah Maroney, public information officer for the Manassas City Police Department.

Susie Webb is the editor of Potomac Local News. You can email her with any news tips at [email protected].