Leslie Rivera is a wanted man after he failed to show up for a court date on charges of driving with a suspended license.
But Rivera has a good reason why he failed to appear: he was in a coma.
The 34 year-old father of three was badly injured in an accident last fall when his vehicle slid under a Publix semi truck. He spent weeks in a coma.
On one of those days, Rivera was scheduled to go in front of a judge on charges of driving with a suspended license.
He obviously couldn't show up to court.
His wife, Selenia Blanco, says she called in an attempt to keep a judge from issuing the warrant.
"I tried to tell them he was in the hospital, but they said he would have to call," Blanco said.
After months of speech and physical therapy, Rivera learned to talk again. He made it to Hillsborough County Clerk of Courts to explain the situation in person to avoid going to jail.
Rivera says he asked for a new court date, but didn't get the answer he wanted.
"They said, 'We can't do nothing until this warrant gets served,' " he said. "It means me going to jail. They said that's the only time they would do something. I said, 'How am I supposed to go to jail in the condition I'm in?' "
Local attorney John Fitzgibbons says the Clerk of Court doesn't have the power to change court dates on request from defendants. He suggested Rivera get a lawyer to request a date change.
In many cases though, he says contacting the judge's office with extenuating circumstances will do the trick.
In this case, we contacted Rivera's judge, who was quick to take his medical records and give a new court date.
Rivera says he wishes the clerk would have told him he had the option, but he's happy he won't have to go to jail.