Former Florida mayoral candidate arrested for armed robbery: report
TAMPA, Fla. (WFLA) — A former mayoral candidate was arrested in Tallahassee for allegedly robbing a Dollar General store at gunpoint, the Tallahassee Democrat reports.
Whitfield Leland, 44, who ran for Tallahassee mayor in 2022 but came in a distant third place, was found by police after they followed a trail of bills spilling from his pockets following the robbery, the paper said, citing court records.
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Leland reportedly pulled a gun on the store manager of Dollar General and demanded cash from the register. He also demanded money from a safe, but was informed “the safe was delayed and would not open right away.”
“The suspect responded, ‘I should have remembered from the last time,'” records say.
The report said Leland removed the manager’s shirt and put it on once police arrived, then fled through the emergency exit with his hands up.
Police reportedly believed he was an employee at first, but gave chase after Leland took off running through the parking lot.
The Tallahassee Democrat said Leland had been paid small sums of money for work on various political campaigns.
Leland reportedly made $65 from the campaign of Rudy Ferguson, who’s running for City Commission Seat 1, for consulting last November and another $100 for get-out-the-vote efforts on March 6.
Leland was also paid $110 for campaign labor on the campaign of Kenneth Preston, who’s running for Leon County property appraiser, the paper reported.
Leland is reportedly facing multiple charges, including robbery with a firearm, grand theft of a firearm, possession of a firearm by a convicted felon and resisting an officer without violence.
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