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Worker accused of locking man inside convenience store
Sanford police say a convenience store clerk intentionally locked a customer in the store after an argument. The incident, which was caught on camera, landed the clerk in jail on a kidnapping charge. FOX 35 spoke with the man who captured the alleged crime on video.
SANFORD, Fla. - A Florida 7-Eleven gas station clerk was arrested last week in Sanford after he allegedly locked a customer in the store and refused to let them leave after an argument over timely service.
What led to the arrest?
What we know:
According to an arrest report from the Sanford Police Department, officers responded to reports of a disturbance around 11:50 p.m. Friday, Sept. 15, at the 7-Eleven located at 3795 S. Orlando Drive.
When police arrived at the scene, a man told them he had entered the gas station to buy a cigar. He said the clerk was cleaning and did not stop to assist him.
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The man and the clerk began to argue, and the clerk allegedly told the man to leave the store and said he would have him trespassed and sent to jail.
The man said the clerk then locked the gas station door and did not allow him to leave while he called 911. The man said the clerk then told him that he was kidnapping him. There was no one else inside the store.
Mike Whigham (Credit: Sanford Police Department)
The clerk, 49-year-old Mike Whigham, told police he locked Turner in the store to hold him until law enforcement arrived.
The incident was captured on video by the customer, Jermaine Turner, who spoke with FOX 35 News. Turner said he believed he was in danger.
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"You can't lock me in no store man," Turner is heard saying on the video. "You crazy as h***."
Whigham was arrested on a charge of false kidnapping and imprisonment and taken to the John E. Polk Correctional Facility.
The Source: This story was written based on information gathered from a Sanford Police Department arrest report.