A man wanted by law enforcement for over two decades was arrested in Palm Coast on Sunday. The Flagler County Sheriff’s Office announced that 52-year-old Carl Rivera was taken into custody 22 years after a warrant for his arrest was issued in Miami-Dade County.
Records from the Flagler County jail list Rivera as a resident of Southbridge, Massachusetts. It’s not clear why Rivera was in Palm Coast, and he has no prior arrests on record in Flagler County. He was not charged with any new offenses in Flagler, and was arrested solely for his active warrants.
Deputies were called to the scene of a minor car accident on Belle Terre Parkway in Palm Coast at around 8:30 p.m. on Sunday. Rivera was said to have been a passenger in one of the vehicles involved. Upon running his name through their database, deputies determined that Rivera was wanted on two outstanding warrants issued in 2004 by the Miami-Dade Sheriff’s Office.
Rivera was wanted for two criminal charges: possession of a controlled substance violating his probation, and possession of drug paraphernalia with the intent to use. At 9:18 p.m., he was placed under arrest and taken to the county jail on his two out-of-county warrants. He remains in custody without bond as he awaits extradition to Miami-Dade County.
“This guy has been wanted in Miami for over 20 years,” said Flagler Sheriff Rick Staly. “I commend our [deputies] for looking beyond the initial call and apprehending this guy who thought he had escaped the long arm of the law. Instead, he earned himself a trip to the [county jail] and a free trip to Miami by the Miami-Dade County Sheriff’s Office.”
Chris Gollon is a Flagler County resident since 2004, as well as a staple of the local independent music scene and avid observer of Central Florida politics, arts, and recreation.
