14-year-old fan. Drug addiction and legal issues Ruffin first sought treatment for his drug addiction in 1967. In 1978, Ruffin was arrested at a birthday party in Memphis. He was charged with disorderly conduct "for refusing several requests" to leave the area after he allegedly made threats against some policemen and their families while being transported to jail. Ruffin denied making threats and was released on his own recognizance. In 1982, Ruffin was charged $5,000 and sentenced to six months in a low-security prison in Terre Haute, Indiana, for failing to pay taxes amounting to more than $310,000 over three years (1975–77). He served four months and was released early for good behavior. On May 19, 1986, he pleaded no contest to a charge of receiving and concealing stolen property worth less than $100 (a Colt .32-caliber handgun) and was fined $50 plus $100 in court costs. Charges of assault and battery and receiving stolen property worth more than $100 were dropped. In July 1987, Ruffin spent a night in jail after he was arrested after a raid at a Detroit house. He was charged with cocaine possession with intent to distribute less than 20 grams of cocaine. He was released after posting a $1,500 bond. Ruffin was found not guilty of possession, but was found guilty of using the drug. He was sentenced to two years' probation and 50 days of community service. In 1989, he was ordered to enter a drug rehabilitation center after violating his probation three times. He completed a 28-day drug treatment program at the Areba Casriel Institute in New York. Death After completing a successful month-long tour of England with Kendricks and Edwards, David Ruffin died on June 1, 1991, from an accidental overdose of crack cocaine. Ruffin had reportedly collapsed at a West Philadelphia crack house, where he had gone with his friend Donald Brown, according to authorities. Brown then drove Ruffin to the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, where he was declared dead at 3:55 a.m. that morning from "an adverse reaction to drugs (cocaine)" after emergency room personnel spent almost an hour attempting to revive him. The Associated Press reported that Ruffin and a man named William Nowell split ten vials of crack cocaine inside of Nowell's West Philadelphia home hours before he died. Although the cause of death was ruled an accident, Ruffin's family and friends suspected foul play,