Inset: Mike Whigham (Sanford Police Department). Background: The 7-Eleven where Whigham works in Sanford, Fla. (Google Maps).
A Florida 7-Eleven clerk was recently arrested for locking up a customer during an argument, Sunshine State police say.
Mike Whigham, 49, stands accused of one count of kidnapping by false imprisonment, according to Seminole County court records.
The underlying incident occurred at a 7-Eleven on South Orlando Drive in Sanford, a medium-sized city in the broader Orlando metro area, according to an arrest report obtained by Law&Crime.
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On Sept. 15, a man called police about his experience while trying to purchase a Black & Mild – a popular, flavored small cigar.
The man said when he entered the store, the defendant was cleaning and “did not stop to assist him up,” according to the arrest report.
Quickly, one man”s desire for cleanliness and the other man’s desire for sweetened tobacco dovetailed into a “verbal argument,” police say. Eventually, Whigham told the customer to leave the store or “he would have him trespassed and sent to jail,” according to the report.
Next, the customer said the defendant “locked the door and did not allow him to leave while he called 911,” according to the report. Then, the customer told Whigham “he was kidnapping him” so the clerk unlocked the door and waited for law enforcement, police say.
Responding officers met with the customer, who said he wanted to press charges against the defendant over the incident.
The customer, it turned out, recorded his encounter inside the convenience store, according to the report. Police say the footage supported the customer’s narrative of events.
“During the argument I observed [the defendant] leave from behind the cashier counter and walk to the front door, lock the front door, and then physically stand in front of the door pulling the door shut to prevent [the customer] from exiting, while on the phone with 911,” a Sanford Police Department officer wrote in the arrest report. “[The customer’s] tone in the video appeared to be agitated but not aggressive. [The customer] was locked [in the] store for approximately one minute and thirty seconds.”
The customer shared the video with Orlando-based Fox affiliate WOFL.
In the footage, he tells the worker: “You can’t lock me in no store man. You crazy as hell.”
Whigham was Mirandized and then interviewed, according to the report. His recollection of the incident did not appear to differ much, if any, from that given by the aggrieved customer, police claim.
According to the arrest report, at length:
[The defendant] stated that he was scared something might happen during the incident and so he went to the back of the store. [The defendant] stated he wanted [the customer] to leave and called 911. [The defendant] stated he then locked the door to hold [the customer] until police arrived, standing in front of the door for a portion of time. [The defendant] stated he then unlocked the door because he realized what he did was wrong.
The defendant was released from jail on Sept. 19, on $5,000 bail.
He is next slated to appear in court for an arraignment on Nov. 4.
