A former Tallahassee mayoral candidate, Whitfield Leland, has been arrested after allegedly robbing a Dollar General store at gunpoint. Leland, 44, faces several charges, including grand theft of a firearm, robbery with a gun, possession of a firearm by a felon, and resisting arrest, according to the Tallahassee Democrat.
Former Tallahassee mayoral candidate arrested in armed robbery of a Dollar General store https://t.co/4pGKr81Ilj
— Tallahassee Democrat (@TDOnline) May 21, 2024
On Monday morning, Leland allegedly entered the Dollar General on W. Brevard Street in Tallahassee, where he held a manager and an employee at gunpoint and demanded cash. The exact amount of money taken is not clear. An arrest report indicates that Leland took a Dollar General shirt from an employee and wore it during the robbery. After fleeing the scene, police officers followed a trail of cash that Leland had dropped, leading them to his location in a nearby wooded area.
This incident is the latest development in a series of legal troubles for Leland. In October 2022, he was sentenced to two months in jail for resisting arrest at a party in June 2019 and was also given ten months of probation. Leland previously ran as a non-partisan candidate in the 2022 Tallahassee mayoral race, securing only 5% of the vote in the primary. He lost to Kristin Dozier, who was ultimately defeated by John Dailey in the general election.
Leland’s arrest has drawn significant attention due to his past political activities, including his request for the City of Tallahassee to cancel an MLK Day Parade and his filing of an ethics complaint against several city officials.