Attorney John Trevena speaks after hit-and-run crash left him seriously hurt

LARGO, Fla. - He's used to defending accused criminals, but attorney John Trevena and his wife have found themselves to be victims in a serious hit-and-run crash. It happened on U.S. 19 in Pinellas County. FHP troopers are searching for the driver.

It was a scary ordeal for Trevena and his wife, Tracy. When the car hit them, he says he lost feeling in his legs and he thought he might be paralyzed. His wife says the woman who hit them looked at them like she was going to help, then drove off.

Surveillance video shows the moment the white Toyota Prius slams into the back of Trevena's blue Volkswagen Beetle, which then strikes the black car in front of it.

"When I called 911 I even said I think I might be paralyzed because I was feeling down. I couldn't feel anything from my knees below," Trevena said.

It was a scary few moments for Trevena and his wife, who was sitting in the passenger's seat when they were struck.

"We were like in a pinball machine. It was like we were going back and forth, back and forth. And, at that time, I, I hit my head again off of the side window and flew backwards," Tracy Trevena said.

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The crash happened on July 15 at the corner of Ulmerton Road and U.S. 19 in Largo. FHP troopers have since released a surveillance image of the white Toyota Prius with a woman at the wheel.

"I'm thinking, ‘what is going on?’ I thought she was going to stop and help us. Instead, she just tore off out of there and never looked back," Tracy said.

Trevena, who's represented several accused hit-and-run drivers as a criminal defense attorney himself, is now temporarily in a wheelchair and on oxygen as he recovers from a spinal cord injury caused by the crash.

"I'm going to be much more lenient in my recommendation to the judge for her sentencing if she voluntarily surrenders herself. But if she plays hard to catch and stonewalls everyone, then that could turn to a very ugly situation," Trevena said.

FHP troopers are searching for a white Toyota Prius with front-end damage. The driver is described as a female with short blonde hair and glasses. Anyone with information is asked to call the Florida Highway Patrol.

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