Pensacola man arrested after armed standoff: Santa Rosa County Sheriff’s Office

SANTA ROSA COUNTY, Fla. ( WKRG ) — A Northwest Florida man was arrested after a traffic stop led to an armed standoff with several shots fired, according to the Santa Rosa County Sheriff’s Office.

77-year-old Clifford George Whennen was arrested after the incident that officials say started around 1:42 p.m. on Saturday, July 13, when a Milton Police Department officer responded to the report of a reckless driver on Glover Lane.

According to a press release today, SRCSO units arrived to help the MPD officer who called for backup when Whennen, who had an active felony warrant and allegedly made recent threats to law enforcement, “became argumentative.”

Units blocked the vehicle on Glover Lane, and the release said Whennen “exited the vehicle with a firearm pointed at his head,” refused to drop the firearm, and “reentered the backseat of his vehicle.”

SRCSO SWAT responded to the scene with an armed rescue after Whennen reentered the vehicle, which reportedly had tinted windows, making it impossible to see inside.

After failed negotiations and less lethal munitions deployed, Whennen reportedly fired seven rounds toward law enforcement who were protected by the armored vehicle.

Less lethal munitions were continued following the shots, and deputies were able to take Whennen into custody, the release said.

Whennen, who is homeless in Pensacola, according to the jail log, was taken to the hospital by EMS for minor injuries from glass cuts before he was booked into the Santa Rosa Detention Facility, the release said.

He faces charges of aggravated assault on specified personnel, discharge of a firearm from a vehicle, failure to obey law enforcement order to stop, and damage to property/criminal mischief, according to the release.

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