Tallahassee homeless man Phil March, whose shave went viral, arrested for trespassing

The Tallahassee homeless man whose story went viral last summer after a police officer was filmed shaving the man's beard outside a McDonald's was arrested Wednesday afternoon. 

Tallahassee police officers arrested Phillip March, 46, for trespassing in the Target on Tennessee Street while riding a Publix motorized shopping cart with another man and smoking cigarettes throughout the store, according to police. 

The two men also had Target products in their backpack, though the store did not wish to pursue charges for the stolen items, according to an arrest affidavit.

Officers called Publix about the stolen shopping cart and the store said it would send someone to pick it up. Publix also declined to press charges for the stolen conveyance, the affidavit stated. 

It was a sad turn for a man whose story warmed hearts around the nation.

A video posted online went viral last July of Tallahassee Police Officer Tony Carlson shaving March's beard outside McDonald's off Thomasville and Maclay Commerce roads. The video has since received 448,000 views and was shared nearly 6,000 times on Facebook. 

Later that same month, McDonald's hired March to work inside the restaurant after a hiring manager bought him clothes and a watch. The Tallahassee Fire Department let him shower at the station and U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio’s office helped him with an identification card needed to officially get hired, the Tallahassee Democrat reported. 

But March is no longer employed, according to court records. His last reported residence was at the Kearney Center. 

He has been arrested twice before for trespassing in 2015 and petty theft in 2007, court records stated. 

In November of 2018, March told the Tallahassee Democrat he's always struggled with addiction. Both March's birth parents battled alcoholism and he was one of 10 siblings bouncing through about eight different foster homes in Nashville, Tennessee, the Democrat reported. 

"It pays a toll on you, you know," he said, adding, "the past don’t mean nothing to me. It’s the future that means something."

March pleaded no contest to the trespassing charge and spent two days in jail before he was released Thursday evening. 

TPD spokesman Damon Miller said March's current arrest is "unfortunate." 

"We don’t get personal feelings about it, it’s just unfortunate that it happened," Miller said. 

Reach CD Davidson-Hiers at CDavidsonH@tallahassee.com or on Twitter @DavidsonHiers.

The story of Phil:

• Phil March, homeless man cop shaved for job interview, says he's thankful for a 'chance'
• Phil's close shave with TPD officer lands him that job at McDonald's
• Tallahassee police officer, homeless man reconnect as Marco Rubio's office lends a hand
• Tallahassee police officer helps homeless man shave to land a job; the video went viral