It started like any other trip to the corner store, quick, simple, forgettable. But what unfolded inside a Florida 7-Eleven earlier this month left one man calling police, another in handcuffs, and the entire community stunned. What should have been a harmless purchase turned into something far darker, and it all played out in a matter of minutes.
On September 15, a customer walked into the Sanford, Florida, 7-Eleven on South Orlando Drive looking for nothing more controversial than a Black & Mild cigar. Behind the counter, clerk Mike Whigham, 49, was busy cleaning and reportedly less than eager to help.
Words were exchanged, tempers flared, and a heated argument broke out. Whigham allegedly told the customer to leave or risk being hauled off to jail. But things didn’t stop there. Instead of ending the encounter, police say Whigham escalated it.
According to Law & Crime an arrest report, the clerk locked the front door, blocking the customer’s exit while calling 911. The stunned man quickly accused him of kidnapping. Words that would later be echoed in court documents.
Locked In and Locked Down
The bizarre standoff lasted only about ninety seconds, but the impact was enough to lead to Whigham’s arrest on a charge of kidnapping by false imprisonment. The customer even had video evidence, which showed Whigham physically standing at the door, holding it shut while the man argued to be let out.
The footage, later shared with local media, paints a chilling picture. In it, the frustrated customer can be heard shouting, “You can’t lock me in no store, man. You crazy as hell.” His voice may have been agitated, but police noted he wasn’t aggressive, making Whigham’s actions all the more troubling.
“That’s wild, even for Florida. It really makes you wonder about the state of service industry tensions right now. And yeah, if the market for basic human decency keeps dipping, we’re all in trouble,” one X user writes.
Whigham later admitted to officers that he panicked and realized too late that locking the man inside was wrong. Released on $5,000 bail, Whigham is due back in a Florida court on November 4 for arraignment. While no one was injured, the case highlights how quickly an everyday encounter can spiral into a criminal charge, and how a short trip to 7-Eleven can turn into something out of a nightmare.
Nina Franklin 
Sabrina Russell 
Hunter Spears 
