Florida mayoral candidate arrested for armed robbery of Dollar General while in disguise

A Florida mayoral candidate has been arrested for allegedly robbing a Dollar General while disguised as an employee.

Whitfield Leland, 44, stole a shirt of a staff member's back before holding up the store at gun point, police said.

He was seen fleeing the scene with fistfuls of cash, which they said left a trail that led cops to his location in a wooded area.

Leland was arrested on robbery, firearms possession, battery and resisting arrest charges among others.

Police were scrambled to the scene at 327 W. Brevard Street on Monday morning.

Tallahassee mayoral candidate Whitfield Leland has been arrested for allegedly robbing a Dollar General while disguised as an employee

A customer called 911 after spotting a suspect pull a gun on the terrified manager, court records obtained by Tallahassee Democrat show.

Leland allegedly ransacked the register before ordering the manager to open the safe and lie on the ground.

However, the manager informed him there is a delay on the safe opening.

The suspect then replied, ''I should have remembered from the last time,' according to court filings.

The 'shaken' manager described being 'in fear for his life at the time of the incident', the police report said. 

Leland is said to have ditched the Dollar Tree uniform he had put on and then sprinted out of the store's exit.

Police initially believed the culprit was one of the store's employees and began a pursuit on foot before apprehending him.

Leland, 44, stole a shirt of a staff member's back before holding up the store at gun point, police said

Police were scrambled to the scene at 327 W. Brevard Street on Monday morning amid reports someone had held up the store with a gun

Leland ran for Tallahassee mayor in 2022 as a political unknown. He finish in third place in the four-person August primary securing just over five percent of the vote. 

He is currently being held in the Leon County Detention Facility on a $6,000 bond.

Booking records from the jail shows that Leland has an arrest history stretching back to 1998.